


If i don't say the words how will you hear what's inside my heart?

by puppybusby



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Allison Argent & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, F/F, Friendship, Jackson is a dick, Mute Allison, Past Character Death, Stiles totally has a crush on Danny, artist!allison, because apparently i can't not write them as being like siblings it's a problem, but it is there, i feel like there should be more tags but idk what to tag, like really blink, past trauma, scisaac if you blink, selective mutism, there is some smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-23
Updated: 2014-06-23
Packaged: 2018-02-05 23:24:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1835983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppybusby/pseuds/puppybusby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The knowledge that a girl Lydia had only known for a few weeks has Lydia re-evaluating her life and her priorities have changed<br/>And she's scared<br/>But it's a good kind of scared, the kind where something brand new is on the horizon and the potential for greatness is limitless.<br/>It's the kind of feeling Lydia has never really allowed herself to feel, it's all new and foreign and amazing</p>
            </blockquote>





	If i don't say the words how will you hear what's inside my heart?

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so are oneshots supposed to be this long? I feel like they shouldn't be this long but ssh  
> Also, it's not 100% accurate, so i accept and fuck ups i may have made along this fic
> 
> Sidenote: Allison communicates through writing/texting so a response from Allison would look like this  
>  _"Look i'm writing a thing!"_ (god i'm fucking loser)
> 
> Also any spelling/grammar mistakes, my bad

 

"So apparently there's a new girl starting today" Danny said casually, Lydia hummed and glanced at him through the mirror inside her locker  
"Why would anybody move here?" Jackson frowned "this place is a dump"  
Lydia popped her lips and smiled at herself before closing the locker "come on Jackson, new girl, that's pretty interesting" downside of living in a small town? A new student would inevitably be all the school could talk about for the next few months  
"There's more" Danny said "she's mute"  
"Mute?" Jackson looked between Danny and Lydia "what the fuck does that mean?"  
"It means she can't speak" Lydia answers easily. Jackson's face scrunched up, Lydia turned away from him before he could open his mouth and say something stupid or, more likely, offensive, instead she turns to Danny "where did you hear about this?"  
"Overheard Harris telling Finstock, apparently it's selective mutism" he shrugged  
"God, I could care less" Jackson rolled his eyes  
"Well, luckily nobody asked you" Lydia smiled sweetly "I'll see you later" she kissed him on the cheek and waved at Danny

  

"Stilinski! McCall!" Scott closed his locker and spared a glance at Stiles before looking at Finstock  
"Hey coach" Scott greeted  
"You're both failing my class"  
"Good morning to you too" Stiles frowned  
"I'm gonna offer you both a chance to make up your grades"  
"What do we have to do?" Scott asked  
"We have a new girl, she's sharing a lot of your classes"  
"Okay.." Stiles frowned  
"She doesn't talk"  
"Want do you mean?"  
"She won't talk, can't, whatever, just help her out, get her up to speed"  
"I don't suppose we get a say on this do we coach?" Stiles asked  
"Not if you want to pass my class you don't"  
  
  
"Allison?" Scott asked, the girl sitting in the deal behind his own looked up, brown eyes searching his own before she nodded, Scott could see the nervousness behind her eyes "awesome!" He grinned "I’m Scott, this is Stiles" he gestured to the boy beside him who waved before dropping into the desk beside her. Scott watched her carefully, unsure how to proceed  
"So" Stiles drummed the desk with his hands "what do you think of beacon hills"  
Allison watches him carefully, eventually she holds her hand out and lays it flat, moving it from side to side  
Stiles laughs "you'll get used to it" he smiles, he glances over at Scott "can I ask you something that probably steps over many boundaries?" He asked, ignoring how Scott face palms, Allison raises an eyebrow and tilts her head to the side curiously "how do you communicate? Like, how does that work?"  
"Stiles, you can't just ask things like that" Scott sighed, Allison held a hand up to Scott and kept her attention on Stiles, she gestured to her notebook and doodled a smiley face in the corner, she then pulled out her cellphone and placed it on the table  
"No sign language?" Stiles asked, Allison shrugged and flicked her hand "too much to learn?" Allison tilted her head upwards into a slight nod  
"So..." Scott spoke up, drawing Allison and Scott's attentions back to him "coach Finstock asked us to help you out, have you read over the course?"  
Allison shook her head and made a disdainful face at the book in front of her, Stiles laughed beside her  
"Honestly, I’m not sure why coach asked us to help you catch up, we're literally failing ourselves" Allison blew air out of her nose in a silent laugh and her lips curled upwards into a small smile

 

Allison liked Scott and Stiles, Scott smiled constantly, he was so warm and would wait patiently while Allison wrote or sketched out her responses or questions, he didn't ask questions, he would just turn around every now and again to ask if she understood the work, and Allison would hold a thumb up in response or gesture to something and draw a question mark  
Stiles was considerably louder, and she could tell he had a million questions but once other students had started to arrive he had held his tongue and instead spent the first twenty minutes of class glaring at everybody who glanced back at them. Allison looked and met the eyes of a student a few seats in front of her, she raised an eyebrow at him and he quickly averted his gaze, Allison rolled her eyes and went back to her notebook, sketching out a very quick and very unflattering caricature of the boy and drew a question mark next to his face. She tore out the page and reached over to poke stiles, he looked over at her with a frown  
"What's up?" He asked  
Allison held out the sheet of paper and he took out from her, studying it for a moment before laughing  
"That's Greenberg" he says "why?" Allison tapped her eye and Stiles nodded slowly "ah, well you are the new girl" Stiles glare at the back of his head "people are ass-holes" he looks back down at the sketch and laughs again "good work on this by the way, very accurate"  
Allison smirks and shrugs dismissively, practice makes perfect and boy, does Allison get to practice, "can I keep this?" He asks, Allison reaches over to doodle another smiley face in the corner "awesome"

 

"So" Scott slides his backpack on and smiles at Allison "wanna join us for lunch? Our friends are a little odd, but they're cool"  
"Boyd is super quiet, Isaac is just kinda there and Erica is kinda like a chihuahua, but you can just ignore her if she gets too annoying, she'll soon move on to annoy Isaac" Stiles explained  
Allison didn't look up until she had finished packing her stuff away she met Scott's eyes and nodded, forcing a smile, Scott beamed at her and moved towards the door. She forced herself to swallow the lump of anxiety in the back of her throat, she adjusts the strap of her bag and her eyes met Stiles', she forced another smile and he tilted his head slightly, watching her carefully, her smile faltered when he didn't back down  
"Can I have a word?" He asked  
Allison raised an eyebrow and nodded, she looked over to Scott who seemed unsure  
"I'll.... Uh, I'll meet you guys in the cafeteria" he mumbled, ducking out of the room quickly  
Allison leant against the desk and pulled her notebook and pen from her bag, watching Stiles expectantly  
"People are going to ask questions you know" he said, Allison nodded, of course she knew, this wasn't the first school she had come to since this had happened "can I ask you something?" Allison waved her hand in a gesture that she hopes Stiles understands "were you born like this?" He asked "or did something happen?"  
Allison glances away and holds up two fingers  
"Yeah... Yeah, I thought so" he nodded "I , I had something line that happen once" he said quietly "I was a kid, my mom has just died-" Allison's eyes snapped up to meet his own and he watched her steadily "you too, huh?"  
Allison's gaze dropped to the ground and she nodded once  
Stiles sighed "yeah" she met his gaze again "look, I won't say anything and neither will Scott- though he's probably giving our friends the heads up." Allison nodded and smiled, a real smile this time "it's just.... There are some genuine ass-holes here"  
Allison scribbled something and held it out to Stiles  
“ _wouldn't be the first time”  
_ Stiles laughed again "we're going to be good friends, I can tell"

  

Stiles led Allison to a table at the farthest corner of the cafeteria, eyes watching their every move and Allison rolled her eyes again as tables full of students blatantly stared at her before dissolving into whispers, Stiles catches her eye and sights "did I mention that we aren't known for our subtlety?"  
Allison raised an eyebrow and smiled, she looked over to where Scott sat with three other teens, when he caught sight of them he smiled brightly and waved them over, he gestured to the seat next to him and Allison sank down into it, Stiles dropping down beside her  
"Guys, this is Allison" Scott beamed, Allison raised a hand waved slightly at the teens in front of her  
"What's up" the girl nods "I'm Erica" and gestures to the boy on her right "Isaac" and then to the boy on her left "Boyd"  
Allison smiles at them all in turn  
"We were just talking about lacrosse" Boyd says, Allison pulls her lunch from her bag and sets it on the table, her sketchbook and mechanical pencil next to it "we're all on the team, sans Erica of course"  
"Of course" Erica rolls her eyes "I'd kick all of their asses and they know it"  
"Oh yeah" Isaac nods "you'd totally kick our asses running down the field in heels" he replies sarcastically, Erica gets him into a headlock and ruffles his hair  
"And don't you forget it Lahey" she grins, Boyd frowns and looks back to Allison  
"So, where are you from Allison?”  
Allison opens her sketchbook and grabs her pencil and sketches out a quick drawing, Boyd and the others watching her as she does so, after a minute she holds it up for them to see  
"The Eiffel tower? You're from France?" Boyd smiled  
"That's awesome!" Stiles beamed  
"Do you speak French?" Scott asked, his eyes widened as he understood his words "I mean, do you know French? I didn't mean-"  
Allison held up a hand, cutting Scott off, she smiled and nodded  
"Allison is totally an awesome drawer, he pulls out her drawing from earlier, smoothing out a slight crease and handing it over, Erica grabbed it from him and threw her head back, laughing loudly  
"holy shit, Greenberg, spot on Argent" she laughed, "you gonna draw me one day?" She asked with a wink "like a real portrait, not some vaguely insulting caricature"  
Allison stared at Erica for a moment and turned to a fresh page when she caught sight of a girl behind her, Allison's eyes followed the girl carefully, watched as she walked through the cafeteria liked she owned it (Allison suspected that she probably did, she was definitely getting a queen bee vibe) she watched the girl flick her hair over her shoulder and sit down beside a guy who Allison was already about ninety percent sure was a total douche bag based purely on his cocky smirk, postured as though he felt he was royalty, above everything else, he said something to the girl and laughed at his own comment, Allison watched the girl smile widely, too wide and Allison hasn't spoken for so long, she relies on watching body language, it's a skill she's been honing and she knows a fake smile when she sees it, can see the way she can hardly be bothered to even acknowledge him, Allison watches her for what feels like hours, watches as she eats grapes and feigns interest in whatever conversation is going on around her, the girl lifts her head and their eyes lock and Allison swears, her heart skips a beat, Allison holds her gaze for as long as she dares, stares at those vibrant green eyes until it feels like the world around them fades to nothing  
And then the girl smiles  
And it's not the smile she had given the boy beside her, there was nothing fake about it  
"Yo, Argent" a hand waves in front of her face and Allison snapped herself back to reality, focusing once again on the girl sat opposite her "you okay?"  
"Yeah, you zoned out for like five minutes" Stiles says beside her "you okay?"  
Alison nodded furiously, glancing past Erica at the girl again, her attention now on the boy beside her, her mouth pressed together in a fine line as he spoke. Allison grabbed her pencil and turned to a fresh page

 

 

Lydia watched the Reyes girl wave a hand in front of the new girl and Lydia forced herself to look away "So Greenberg shares a class with that mute chick" Jackson said "Allison or something, I don't know" he shrugged "apparently she's hot and it makes up for her not talking" Lydia frowned and turned to Jackson  
"You could at least try being respectful Jackson" Danny spoke up before Lydia could open her mouth "you don't know why she can't talk"  
"Whatever man" Jackson bites into his apple, Lydia glances back over to the girl- Allison, completely oblivious to the people say around her as she scribbles furiously at something, her dark curls obscuring her face from Lydia's view, Lydia watches her, waiting for a chance to see those eyes again "is that her?" Jackson asked, Lydia glanced at him and saw him looking at Allison with a frown  
"That's her" Lydia nodded  
Jackson made a sound in the back of his throat "yeah she's hot, the fact that she's hanging out with those losers tells me that she's definitely a weirdo"  
Lydia glared at him "Are you forgetting that those losers are your team-mates? Or did you forget that _co-captain?_ " it's a low blow, Jackson had become increasingly more intolerable since Scott McCall blew everyone away by becoming a pro practically overnight. Jackson tensed and Lydia smiled as anger washed over him  
"Whatever" he growled, pushing himself from the table and storming off. Lydia rolled her eyes and looked towards Danny  
"He's so emotionally stunted" Lydia said  
"As his best friend, I'll always support him" Danny reached over to grab a grape "but as your friend I have to know, why are you still with him?"  
Lydia looks over to Allison and catches her eye briefly "honestly Danny, I'm not even sure any more"

 

 

Allison poked at Stiles until he looked over to her and she handed him the sketchbook, tapping it with her pen, Stiles looked at Allison before studying the book carefully  
"That's Lydia, Lydia Martin" Stiles handed the book back to her, Allison stared at her drawing, it was rough, and Allison was actually disappointed in herself, the drawing didn't really do the girl justice, she hadn't caught the curve of her lips, the shine of her hair or the sparkle in her eye, she glanced back up to Lydia and caught he eye again "she's basically the queen bee, her boyfriend was the guy sitting beside her, Jackson"  
"He's a dick" Erica supplied  
"And that's a nice way of putting it" Isaac added  
Allison frowned, she wasn't surprised, of course Lydia wouldn't be single, she obviously had boys falling at her feet, Allison closed her notebook and pushed it to the side and finally turned her attention to her lunch, when she glanced up again, Lydia was gone

 

 

"Stiles" Lydia called, watching as the boy flailed at having his name called  
"Oh! Lydia-I, hey!" He waved lamely, he tried (and failed) at looking cool by leaning against his locker  
"You're friends with Allison" she says and she can see that Stiles is taken aback by her forwardness  
"You know about Allison?" He asks  
"New girl Stilinski, she's the talk of the school" she reminds him "everyone is taking about her"  
Stiles made a face "what do you want to know?" Lydia went to reply but was cut off by Stiles "Allison!" He greeted "hey" Lydia turned in time to see Allison raise a hand in greeting, her attention shifting from him to Lydia immediately, brown eyes wide and imploring  
"Hey" Lydia greeted and Allison stared back at her, unsure for a moment before holding a hand up to greet her, "I'm Lydia" Lydia pointed at Allison "you're Allison, right?" Allison's eyes widened momentarily before nodding and Lydia couldn't help herself, "I love your jacket" she said as she reached forward and pulled slightly on the collar, adjusting it. Allison smiled and stepped out of Lydia's grasp and moved towards Stiles. Allison moved her right hand and held them near her lips for a moment before moving her hand forward and dipping it slightly in Lydia's direction, Lydia recognised the gesture as a thank you in sign language, Lydia searched her mind before making the answering sign "you're welcome" she smiles, Stiles turns to Allison  
"I thought you didn't know sign language"  
Allison shrugs and holds her palm out flat and shaking it slightly  
"Ohhh" Stiles nodded "you know _some_ "  
Allison nodded and smiled  
"Anyway" Lydia smiled "I better get going, I'm sure I'll see you around" she says to Allison, she turns on her heel and walks away  
"Bye Lydia" Stiles waves lamely, he turns to Allison and waits for her to meet his eye again "we go way back" he says an Allison raises an eyebrow and looks disbelievingly at him "okay" he amends "so not in the friendship kind of way, but we've shared classes since like forever" he waves a hand  
"Hey guys" Scott waves a hand in greeting "was that Lydia I just saw?" He looks down to where Lydia had disappeared  
"Hey Scott" Stiles smiles, Allison waves a hand "and yeah, it was"  
"What'd she want?"  
"I think she wanted the details on our new friend here" Stiles winks at Allison and nudges her with his elbow  
Allison rolled her eyes at him but smiled nonetheless  
"Hey Allison?" Scott began "is it creepy to ask for you number? I mean, we want to be friends with you and if we have your number we can hang out and-" Stiles cuts him off by throwing an arm around him  
"Scott babbles when he gets nervous" Stiles smirks  
Allison writes her number in the corner of her notebook before tearing it off and handing it over to Scott  
"Awesome" Scott pulls away from Stiles and pulls out his phone "can we pass it on to the others?" He asks, glancing at Stiles who's typing into his own phone, Allison waves a hand dismissively  
"I'll take that as a yes" Stiles pocketed his phone "hey, where do you live? I'll give you a ride home"  
Stiles watches the colour drain from Allison's face before shaking her head almost forcefully, she takes a step away from them and pulls her bag tighter over her shoulder, she moves her fingers in a walking gesture  
"Yeah, okay" Stiles nodded "we'll see you tomorrow?"  
Allison nodded, softer this time

 

 

Allison closes the door behind her and drops her bag by the door and moves through the house into the kitchen, she's just opening a can of soda and shutting the fridge with her hip when she hears a voice overhead  
"Allison? Is that you?" She hears her father ask, Allison rolls her eyes, sometimes it's like he's forgotten everything, she sighs inwardly at that, she wishes she could forget like he does, she walks into the living room just as Chris reaches the bottom of the stairs, he smiles encouragingly at her "how was your first day?" Allison holds her thumb up "did you make any friends?" Allison paused for a moment, Scott and the others had been nice to her and everything, he and Stiles had been direct in their approach, had been completely honest in telling her they had been told to approach her, they had been so patient in her when it came to talking to her. And then there was Stiles, who seemed to pick up on any signals she gave off and called her out on her mutism immediately, and for the first time she may have found someone who genuinely seems to relate to her. And Allison can see the potential, can actually see it maybe working out this time, she glances up from her spot on the sofa towards the fireplace, looks at the photograph of her parents on their wedding day and feels her stomach drop. She looks over to her father who is staring at her expectantly, eyes searching over her face, she winces internally under the scrutiny but nods once, Chris brightens immediately  
"That's good!" He gestures for her to move her legs so he sits down beside her "I met with Laura Hale today" Allison raised an inquisitive eyebrow "The therapist"  
Allison rolls her eyes and moves from the sofa  
"I know, but you need to keep trying" Chris sighs heavily "it's been three years Allison" he gets up to follow her "I know it's tough"  
Allison turns away from him, another sigh  
"I know, I don't understand" Chris says, Allison feels a hand on her shoulder, making her turn to be dad, "I'll never understand what happened that night, but I want to, but I need you to talk to me"  
Allison feels her stomach twist but she gives herself credit for managing to keep her expression neutral. Chris sighs again and moves away  
"I picked you up some stuff" he hands a bag over to her which she accepts hesitantly, she turns away from Chris to set the bag on the table, pulling out an assortment of sketchbooks and pencils, she tilts her head to smile at Chris and signs her thanks  
Chris nods "any time" Allison shoves the books back into the bag and grabs an apple from the bowl "I've set your appointment for tomorrow afternoon, do you want me to pick you up after school or-"  
Allison cut him off with a sharp nod  
"I didn't think so" he ran a hand over his head "I'll write down the address" Allison nods in agreement and begins to move towards the stairs "you can't avoid cars forever Allison" he says quietly, the words made Allison freeze in the doorway, she turns and watches Chris move to the fireplace and adjust the photograph there before settling back down on the sofa, Allison let's her shoulders drop  
Her father didn't just lose his wife that day,  
He lost part of his daughter too

 

 

"Are you drawing me?" Scott asked with a smile, Allison looked up from her book and nodded shyly "can I see?" Allison twisted in her seat so he could see, Scott's smile only grew at the image, "you certainly made me look happy" he traced the portrait she had been working on since she had gotten to school that morning, she was still in the early stages of shading- mostly because she had spent most of her time trying to get the depth of his eyes right (she had even broken out the coloured pencils to get them just right) she reached over to her notebook and scribbled a quick reply  
 _"that's because you have a happy smile"  
_ Scott laughed and ran a hand through his hair "Thank you, how long have you been drawing? "  
 _"since I was a kid, but I've been focusing more on it the past couple of years"  
_ Scott nodded thoughtfully "can I be really personal for a minute?" Allison raised an eyebrow but nodded "How long have you been mute?"  
Allison leant back in her chair and held up three fingers, Scott nodded  
"I, uh- did some research when I got home, I didn't want to accidentally say something to offend you because you're like super nice and we all really like you so we want you to feel comfortable with us so.... Yeah" he finished lamely, scratching the back of his head "just, don't feel like we're pressuring you into telling us things you don't want to bring up"  
Out of fear she might do something stupid like cry, Allison leant over for a spontaneous hug  
 _"thank you"_ she wrote

 

 

"I was wondering where you disappeared to" A voice behind her said and Allison startled so hard she launched her bag and books off of the table, she span around to see Stiles, staring at her with wide eyes, Allison presses a hand to her heart and takes a deep breath, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" he says as Allison leans down to grab her stuff and moves to help, he set her books back onto the table and sat beside her, Allison looks across the room to where Lydia is talking to a boy she recognised from the cafeteria  
“Are you doing homework?” Stiles asked, Allison nodded with a frown and gestured to her math homework, which she then pushed away from herself, she reaches for her sketchbook and notebook and pulls them closer  
“Why do you carry two different books?”  
 _“Don't like writing on a book made for drawing”_  
“That makes sense” Stiles hummed, Allison leant back in her seat and let her attention drift back to Lydia  
It's not like she had known the girl had a free period, Allison had genuinely been doing her math homework when Lydia had walked into the library, dark haired boy by her side as they sat across the room from her. Allison had given up all hopes of getting her work done, it was polynomials anyway, she didn't really stand much of a chance  
“She's beautiful isn't she?” Stiles spoke softly, Allison's eyes snapped to his and she found herself ducking her head quickly to conceal her blush, she nodded once “Yeah” Stiles laughed “Believe me, I see why you're smitten”  
Allison looked up to meet Stiles' eyes because that was _not_ the response she was expecting, then again, it's not like she's ever had somebody take an interest in her life behind trying to learn why she doesn't talk.  
Sexuality is secondary compared to things like that  
Stiles must have caught on to her shock because he waves a hand casually “I'm bi, Scott and Isaac are a couple and that guy” Stiles points to the boy by Lydia “Is gay, also my crush, hello Danny” He rests his chin in his hand and tilts his head towards Allison “So don't worry about _that_ ”  
Allison grins and rests her arms on the table  
“So, do you want to hang out after school? We're thinking of getting something to eat”  
 _“Can't, I’m meeting with a therapist”  
_ Allison holds her breath as Stiles reads the words, he nods to himself and looks back up to Allison  
“No problem, another time?”  
Allison nods her approval  
“So, therapist? Laura Hale? She's the only one in town, took over after her mother died”  
 _“Any good?”  
_ “I guess?” Stiles shrugged “Never seen her myself” Allison rolled her eyes “I'm guessing you haven't had the best luck with therapists?”  
 _“Something like that”_ she wrote, doodling a little annoyed face by the side of it

  
  
“Allison Argent?” a woman steps out of the room with a friendly smile, Allison pushes herself to her feet “Laura Hale” she offers her hand which Allison takes and shakes it hesitantly “Pleasure to meet you, come in” She steps to one side to allow Allison to pass her “Have a seat” Laura gestures to a leather sofa as she closes the door behind her and moves towards the armchair. Allison sits herself in the centre, setting her bag down by her feet, unsure as to what to do, the last guy had been a total stereotype, the whole 'lie down and talk about your secrets'  
Allison didn't think he understood the term 'mute'  
Laura held out a large pad and pens towards Allison “Your father said you preferred to communicate through drawings or writing”  
Allison nodded and took the pad, turning it to a clean page  
“This is for our sessions” Laura points to a cabinet “I'll lock it in there at the end of it and nobody else will see what is drawn or written in there okay?”  
Allison nodded  
“Okay good” Laura smiled “So, how are you finding Beacon Hills? Have you made any friend?”  
Allison nodded  
“And they're accepting of the mutism?”  
 _“I wouldn't be friends with them otherwise”_  
Laura laughed “Do they know the circumstances behind it?”  
 _“Scott knows how long I’ve had it, Stiles knows it was caused by a trauma, the others might know, it's not something we talk about”  
_ “That makes sense, you have only been here for two days” Laura jotted something down “Do you want to talk about the incident?”  
Allison shook her head with such force she heard her neck click  
“Why is that?”  
Allison's tapped her foot against the floor and shook her head  
“Okay” Laura nodded slowly “We'll come back to that, I read over your file anyway so I know what happened” She leaned forward in her seat “I'm more interested in what happened with your therapist in San Francisco”  
 _“I punched him”  
_ “I know that, why?”  
Allison clenched her fist at the memory, a middle aged man, looked like he could care less, a wife whom he hated at home with two kids he wasn't even sure was his. Both parents passed at peacefully in their sleep from old age.  
“Allison?” Laura asked, breaking her from her thoughts “Why did you punch him?”

“ _He said he could empathise with me”_ she wrote it with so much force her pen tore through the page  
“Ah” Laura made a sound in the back of her throat and scribbled something else down, Allison looked back down to continue writing  
 _“I don't think he knew the difference between empathy and sympathy”_  
“And you do?” Laura asked  
 _“Empathy: understanding someone’s feelings because you have experienced something similar  
Sympathy: Acknowledging the feelings”  
_ “So you were angry because he said he could relate to your feelings?”  
Allison nodded  
“So you punched him”  
 _“He was also a dick to his wife”  
_ Laura laughed “I'm sure he deserved it”  
Allison nodded  
“What we're your feelings about the incident?”  
Allison frowned and blinked away the flashes of that night  
She wrote down one word _“Guilt”  
_ “I thought so” Laura nodded, she set her pad down and leant forward on her knees “I don't want this to be a patient/therapist relationship Allison, you don't trust therapists based on what I’ve read and judging from the reports I don't blame you. But I want you to trust _me_. So I’m going to tell you a story, if you want to hear it?”  
Allison shrugged, it wasn't like she had a choice, she glanced at the clock, there was still forty five minutes of the session left and she would rather not write about the incident thank you,  
“Nearly ten years ago, I lost most of my family in a fire, my brother, sister and I were the only survivors, it was an electrical fault, in the middle of the night, they never stood a chance. Cora had been at a sleepover and me and Derek had been at a party. In the space of a few hours I lost almost everybody I ever loved. And I’ll tell you, I felt so guilty, I had been partying and drinking and having a good time while my family burnt to death. Cora had to drop out of school for a year, Derek became completely closed off, so angry, all of the time, none of us wanted help from anybody else because they couldn't understand how we were feeling, sound familiar?”  
Allison nodded and reached for her pad again _“How did you get better?”_  
Laura shrugged “I found us all a good therapist, I eventually opened up to my friends.” She watches Allison carefully “I can't ever fully understand how you feel, nor can I hope to completely contemplate your feelings or what happened to you that night, but I want you to know that I want to help you okay?”  
Allison nodded and looked away again  
“I'm not going to force you to talk about that night, but It needs to happen eventually okay?”  
Another nod, Allison forced a breath and looked back at Laura who was smiling encouragingly  
“Do you want to tell me about your friends?”  
Allison smiled for what felt like the first time in forever.  
For the next thirty minutes Laura sat while Allison drew sketches of the last two days of school  
Drawings of Stiles tackling Scott when he had gotten to school that morning, of Erica painting Boyd's nails a vibrant red, of Isaac throwing paper air planes at Scott across their math class  
By the end of it Allison felt better, like a weight had lifted  
“Okay,” Laura glanced up at the clock “We're nearly out of time, how would you feel about two sessions a week? We'll drop it to one a week when you've settled in more”  
Allison nodded her agreement and smiled  
“Some homework though, I want you to start working on bonding with your friends more, draw them, that seems to help you when you're feeling distressed”  
 _“Do I have to show you the drawings?”  
_ “It would be nice, yes” Laura nodded “But for now, don't feel pressured into it, for now you can keep them to yourself should you want to.” She leaned forward again “Remember Allison, our goal here is to help you work through your issues with that night and ultimately try and get you speaking again”  
Allison nodded again, though she wasn't optimistic, it had been three years  
She wasn't even sure her vocal cords worked any more  
“So I’ll see you on Thursday, same time?”  
Allison forced a smile and nodded  
  
  
The walk home was peaceful, she had plugged in her earphones and was surprised to find her father out when she got home, a note on the fridge simply saying that he'd be back in time for dinner (and that he was bringing take out)  
Allison ditched her bag by her desk and spent the next hour or so unpacking boxes, she was glad she didn't have much stuff these days, every time they moved her boxes became less and less, no point in carrying around dead weight she supposed, memories of people who would never remember her past the identity of 'the girl who won't talk'  
Eventually Allison just ended up lying on her back staring at the blank walls of her room.  
They hadn't even gotten around to painting her room in the last house they had, that's how little time they had spent there  
Allison didn't like it there anyway  
Her phone chimed with a message, which was new, even more shocking was that it wasn't from her dad

_From: Stiles  
Is it being creepy if I asked how the session went? I totally respect patient confidentiality so I’m not expecting details  
  
Reply:  
It was good, she was nice enough. I'm being set up with two sessions a week. She set me homework to draw you and the others and build friendships with you all  
  
_ Allison clicked send without regret, honesty was the best policy anyway, the reply came back quicker than she expected  
  
 _From: Stiles  
That's good! Not the twice a week, that sounds tiring but I guess if it helps then it's good right? I don't know, anyway, you have to draw us? Only if you make me hot and give me abs  
  
Reply:  
I'll see what I can do ;)  
  
  
_ “Allison!” Erica approached her on Thursday “Hey, you good?”  
Allison nodded and grinned  
“Good, wanna come bowling tonight?”  
Allison raised an eyebrow  
“I know you have therapy after school, we're thinking after that, what'd you say?”  
Allison grinned and gave Erica a thumbs up  
“Awesome! I'm totally going to kick your ass”  
Allison rolled her eyes and pointed at Erica before giving her a thumbs down  
“Oh I will except that challenge Argent”  
Allison winked and poked her tongue out at Erica. She couldn't help but grin, Allison found that the group were all spectacularly good at reading Allison and could generally tell what she was trying to say by the tilt of her head, it certainly saved her having to hold a notebook all of the time (though she had her phone for more complicated messages)  
“Come on” She swung an arm around Allison and dragged her down the hallway “We have chemistry, wouldn't want you to miss out on your ogling Lydia Martin time”  
Allison rolled her eyes and poked Erica in the ribs  
Another downside of them being good at reading her?  
Her crush on Lydia stopped being a secret almost immediately (Stiles had told her that they had all noticed when she decided to zone out and stare at her for five minutes back on her first day, but they had decided not to call her out on it straight away)  
When they had all realised she shared a class with the redhead they thought it was the greatest development on Earth. They hadn't been disheartened by Allison being partnered with Erica and put at the back of the class, more time to stare they had reasoned.  
Erica pulled Allison into the room and Allison's gaze immediately fell on Lydia, Lydia looked up and met Allison's eye, smile faltering at seeing Erica's arm still around her shoulders. Erica seemed to notice this and laughed, dragging Allison past Lydia and to their seats at the back of the room  
“I think I made her jealous there Argent”  
Allison pulled her books from her back and scribbled a haste reply _“She's dating Jackson, she isn't jealous”  
_ “Are you sure about that?” Erica smirked, looking up, Allison followed her gaze just in time to see Lydia spin around “Because I think she's jealous”  
Allison rolled her eyes again and doodled in the corner of her notebook  
She tried not to acknowledge the hopeful feeling building in her chest  
  
  
“So you're coming bowling?” Stiles beamed  
Allison smiled back and nodded  
“Do you know where it is?” he asked. Allison frowned and shook her head again “Do you want me to write the directions? He clicked his fingers together “Better yet, want me to take you?” Allison shook her head, Stiles held a hand out “I meant walk with you” He amends and Allison's eyes widen before she can help herself. Stiles smiles gently and rubs a hand across the back of his neck before writing something down on his worksheet “When I offered you a ride home the other day you looked freaked out and you also walk everywhere so I’m guessing you have issues with cars?” he shrugged “I get it” he looked at her and smiled again  
Allison nodded slowly but didn't respond in any other way  
“I'm not gonna ask” Stiles added “But do you want me to meet you after your session? We can grab food first or something as well seeing as we're not bowling until later” He titled his head in a smile. Allison matched the smile and nodded, reaching over to draw a small heart in the corner of his book

 

 

“These are excellent drawings Allison” Laura smiled up at her, flicking through the pages, “You draw this boy more than the others”  
 _“That's Stiles”  
_ “Oh, the one who knows that you suffered a trauma and lost your mother?”  
Allison nodded _“He's in the waiting room I think”_ She had heard a crashing sound outside the door about five minutes ago and It was no secret that Stiles was the clumsiest person she had ever met  
“He is? Any reason?”  
 _“We're getting food and going bowling with the others”_ Allison added a smiley face at the end because she was happy dammit  
“That's excellent!” Laura grinned and Allison couldn't help but smile back because Laura seemed genuinely proud of her, happy that she was going to spend time with her friends (Her dad had been particularly ecstatic when she had sent him the text asking to go out- if the unnecessary amount of emojis he had responded with had been an indication anyway)  
“So this Stiles...” Laura began and Allison could see a glint in her eye, the kind of look girls get when they're about to gossip “Anything between the two of you?”  
And Allison had been expecting it, but that didn't stop the way her eyebrows shot up to her hairline in shock, she frowns heavily and shakes her head, gesturing for Laura to hand back the sketchbook, Laura does so and Allison flicks through the pages until she finds the one she wants and hands it back to Laura  
“Who's this?” Laura asks as Allison writes on her notebook  
 _“Lydia”  
_ “Oh” Laura hums “You like her”  
Allison nods  
“Does she like you back?”  
 _“She has a boyfriend”  
_ “Ah” Laura smiles sympathetically  
Allison nods  
 _“He's a dick”  
_ Laura laughs “Who knows” She hands the sketchbook back to Allison “She might realise that he's a dick”  
Allison smirked  
“Okay, so I think that's enough for today, I want you to do the same kind of thing over the weekend okay? Hang out with your friends”  
Allison nodded  
“Also, this Stiles, he seems like a good person to lean on from what you've told me, he seems to relate to you a lot. Maybe you can open up to him more? Slowly of course, don't do anything you don't feel comfortable with”  
Allison nodded her thanks and smiled  
“Have fun tonight Allison” Laura handed her a card “My number, for emergencies okay?”  
Allison nodded and pocketed the card, she kind of wanted to hug Laura, but resisted, she wasn't sure how relationships with a therapist was supposed to go

  
Stiles was reading a magazine with a frown when she left the room  
“Hey!” He greeted when she stopped in front of him “Everything good?” Allison gave him a thumbs up “Great, so, curly fries? The diner across the street is exceptionally good”  
Allison grinned and gestured for him to lead the way  
She followed him through the building and watched as he opened the door to allow her to pass through first, as soon as she stepped out onto the street she froze, coming out of the diner opposite was Jackson and Danny, Jackson's eyes met her own immediately, breaking away only briefly to flick to where Stiles Is now beside her and then towards the building before back at Allison. He smirked until Danny said something beside him and then Jackson broke contact all together to reply to him as they moved down the street, Allison noticed how Danny glanced up at them both briefly and smiled warmly  
“God I hate him so much” Stiles muttered, Allison turned and raised an eyebrow at him “Jackson. I hate Jackson, Danny is sweet, did you see that smile? Adorable” Allison smirked and made a whipped gesture “Oh shut up” He nudged her, a slight blush rising to his cheeks as he grabbed her arm “Come on, lets get food”

 

 

“Oh god” Stiles groaned exaggeratedly, Allison turned to him in confusion and he waved towards a pretentious looking porsche parked nearby as they walked through the parking lot towards the bowling ally. Allison threw her head back in a silent prayer, Stiles reached over to pat her shoulder sympathetically  
“He wouldn't say anything” Stiles insists, “Not with us all there, more specifically, not with Boyd there”  
Allison turned to Stiles and frowned, Boyd was the gentlest person she had ever met, he wouldn't even kill the spider that had been plaguing them during history today- he had asked to go to the bathroom and taken it with him, presumably to let it go free before she took matters into her own hands and crushed It with her textbook  
“I know” Stiles chuckled, clearly reading her mind “But he's built like a tank and it's no secret that everybody is scared of him”he swung his arm around her shoulders “We've got your back, don't worry”  
Allison grinned and dropped her head onto his shoulder as they walked into the building and she didn't doubt for a minute that he was telling anything but the truth

 

 

Allison was at least thankful for them having the lane at the other end of the room, it made it easier to ignore the way that Jackson would shove his tongue down Lydia's throat whenever it wasn't one of their turns  
“Your go Argent” Erica practically dropped the ball in her lap “You better up your game if you want to beat me”  
Allison rolled her eyes, admittedly she had fumbled the ball on her last turn resulting in an embarrassing gutter ball- but that was down to the fact she had glanced across the room to see Jackson helping Lydia bowl, arms wrapped up around her and Allison had just kind of... dropped the ball, needless to say Erica thought it was the funniest thing she had ever seen, Boyd and Stiles had smiled sympathetically and Scott and Isaac, well, she didn't know where they had disappeared off to  
She took a deep breath and focused on the pins.  
Allison span around and fist pumped the air when she got a strike, grinning at Erica's shocked expression  
“Where the fuck did that come from Argent?” she asked when Allison sat down, Boyd congratulated her and move to take his own go. Allison grabbed her sketchbook and drew out a quick image of a bowling ball crashing into a load of miniature Jackson's  
Erica laughed hard enough to draw the attention of other players while Stiles stared at the drawing in amusement  
“I think you just unlocked the secret of how to become the worlds greatest boxer there Alli” Stiles smirked, nudging her with his shoulder, she turned to him with wide eyes and his smile fell immediately “What? What's wrong?”  
 _“You called me Alli”_ She wrote _“I've never had a nickname before”_  
Stiles read over the message a few times before grinning again “Well, get used to it Alli A” He pulled her in for a one armed hug  
When they broke away Allison caught Lydia watching them, she watched as Lydia shrugged Jackson off of her and picked up a baby pink bowling ball before sending it down the lane and getting a textbook strike, Allison's eyebrows shoot up as Lydia sends a smirk in her direction before dropping back down by Jackson as Greenberg picks his jaw up from the ground to take his turn  
Allison gets the distinct feeling Lydia just challenged her  


It continues on like that for a while, Allison would take her shot and glance over to Lydia who would do the same right back to her, Scott and Isaac returned after a while, being incredibly happy and looking more than a little pleased with themselves. Stiles was horrific at bowling, every other ball he threw ended up in the gutter but he wouldn't stop grinning or tackling people into hugs. At some point Boyd had moved to sit beside her and he told her stories of his childhood and life before Allison had shown up while she drew the events of the evening as they were unfurling around her, sketches of Scott and Isaac sat together and completely oblivious to everything going on around them, Erica sneaking up behind Stiles to tickle him just as he's about to take his turn, Boyd smiling as he recalls a particular memory of how they had all become friends  
And she couldn't help herself, she filled a page just of sketches of Lydia, the way she stood at the edge of the lane, focus and determination in her eyes, the way she would spin and her hair would fan out around her, the half smirk she shot over towards her before sitting down.  
She just couldn't help herself  
And honestly, it was the most fun Allison has had in a long time, she can't even remember the last time she smiled this much.  
But she couldn't help but notice the way Jackson would shift slightly, using his shoulder to obscure himself from view and it took Allison almost the entire evening to realise he was drinking from a flask in his jacket  
It wasn't that much of a problem  
Until she realised it was his car in the parking lot  
Allison couldn't breathe  
She watched Lydia say something to Jackson and then get up and walk towards the bathroom  
“Allison?” Stiles asked, concern thick in his voice “Are you okay?” Allison barely had time to hold a finger up before grabbing her notebook and following the girl  


Lydia was applying a fresh coat of lipstick when Allison walked in, Allison didn't allow herself to appreciate the sight, instead thrusting her notebook at Lydia as she turned to face her  
 _“Is he drunk?”_  
Lydia frowned at the page and up at Allison “I don't think that has anything to do with you”  
Allison clenched her fists and snatched the book back from Lydia, she tries not to think about how this is really the first conversation they've had together it has to be under these circumstances, she winced at her almost illegible scrawl and turned the book back to Lydia  
 _“Is he driving?”  
_ “Well, it is his car” Lydia replies primly. Allison slams the notebook on the counter, unable to keep herself from reacting “What?” Lydia demands  
 _“He's drunk and you're going to get in a car with him. Are you stupid?”  
_ She watches Lydia's eyes darken slightly before her mask slips on. She steps closer to Allison and despite the panic, nausea, anger and a million other feelings moving through her mind, Allison still can't help but look at those lips or appreciate the smell of her perfume  
“You don't know anything about me Allison” Lydia said before walking past her and out of the room. Allison watched her go and pushed her hands into her hair and drawing them down her face before kicking at the bathroom stall  
She grabbed her notebook and stormed out, barrelling straight into Stiles, he grabbed her shoulders to steady them both  
“Whoa, Alli, what's wrong?”  
She looked over to where Lydia is talking to Jackson, Lydia glances over at her briefly and Allison feels herself go cold  
“Allison” Stiles says, firmer this time “What's going on?”  
Allison nods over to Jackson and mimics drinking a bottle with her right hand  
“He's been drinking” Stiles says, Allison nods “But his car is outside” Allison nods again, harder this time “You think he's going to drive”  
Allison steps away from Stiles, he's too close to her and she can't breathe  
“Okay” Stiles says, holding a hand out for Allison, she takes it reluctantly, wincing an apology at how sweaty her palms are. He squeezes it reassuringly and leads her back over to where their friends are watching. He sits Allison down and kneels in front of her “My dad is the sheriff” he says, voice pitched low “I can call him if you want, get him to pull them over, do you want me to?”  
Allison nods, no hesitation.  
“Okay” Stiles is already pulling out his phone and moving away slightly. Scott sits on her left while Boyd takes the seat to her right, they both put their arms around her and Allison realises they don't even know why she's panicking, don't know what happened to set her off, but they don't seem to care, Erica is stood close by, watching her carefully and glancing over at Lydia at regular intervals, so Allison is willing to bet she knows that the girl has something to do with her panic  
“You look like you're gonna pass out, or throw up. Or both” she says after a moment, crouching slightly so she was level with Allison “You look like you've seen a ghost”  
Allison buries her face in her hands for a moment and forces herself to think positive thoughts, Laura had told her to focus on friends, that they would be a big part to her recovery.  
Allison thinks of how they're all sat by her right now, not entirely sure why she's upset, not asking why, just being there and offering comfort, like they know that if they ask for details they're going to risk triggering her  
And she's thankful for them  
Thankful how, after only four days they've already become such solid parts of her life  
Allison suddenly wonders how she's lived her life without them  
Allison takes another steady breath and looks up, pushing her hair back with one hand and glancing over at Lydia once more

 

Lydia is watching her, Jackson more preoccupied with saying goodbye to Greenberg and the girl he had brought along with him, and Lydia actually looks _worried,_ an expression she wasn't expecting to see on the girls face based on their interaction back in the bathroom only minutes ago.  
Stiles walks back over to them, sliding his phone into his jeans and glancing over at Lydia and Jackson before focusing on Allison  
“He's patrolling nearby, he's going to head over now” He places a hand on Allison's shoulder “He'll be here before they can even leave the parking lot okay?”  
Allison nods slowly and focuses her attention on him  
“Okay” he picks up her sketchbook and hands it to her “Walk you home?  
Allison nodded glumly, taking the sketchbook from him and letting him pull her to her feet.  
She accepts hugs from the rest of the group, all offering her words of encouragement and congratulating her on dominating the bowling match  
Allison forces herself not to look back at Lydia as she leaves with Stiles  
  


She was thankful that he chose not to bring up what had happened, instead he distracted her by talking about video games  
“Oh and netflix, we totally have a netflix account, you like Buffy? We're going to start a Buffy marathon soon, you in?”  
Allison nodded and smiled, breathing the fresh air, she felt her anxiety ease slightly, Stiles glanced at her briefly before launching into a long winded explanation of how the group organise the marathons, how they alternate houses each week and that they normally put Scott in charge of getting the snacks (apparently he has the best memory and won't get distracted by anything else in the store- unless Isaac is with him)  
“What do you like? I'll make sure we add it to the list, I think we're at Scott's this weekend as well if you're in?”  
Allison smiled again, it faltered when Stiles' phone rang. He flashed her an apologetic smile before puling it out  
“It's my dad” He said, he answered it and pressed the phone to his ear, wandering a short distance away, humming his responses and glancing back to her every few seconds and Allison tries (and fails spectacularly) at hiding the way she fidgets with the sleeve of her jacket.  
Stiles returns a few minutes later, an unreadable expression on his face  
“So he caught up with Jackson no far from the bowling ally, did a breathalyser.” Stiles frowns and folded his arms across his chest “Jackson's blood alcohol was off the chart, like, dad can't believe that he was able to walk, let alone get behind the wheel, he took Jackson and Lydia in”  
Allison pulled out her phone and typed out a quick message  
 _“Are they facing charges?”_  
Stiles frowned “Lydia is fine, she admitted that she knew he had drank, but insisted she didn't know it was to that extent, dad made her take a breathalyser and she was clear” Stiles ran a hand over his head and gestured for them to keep walking “Her mom came to pick her up. Dad said she seemed genuinely horrified that Jackson was that drunk...” He paused to glance at Allison before continuing, “Jackson's dad is a big shot lawyer” He sighed “The worst he's probably looking at is a driving ban and a hefty fine”  
Allison dropped her head  
“Hey,” Stiles patted her shoulder “You did good today, you probably saved their lives”  
Allison frowned _“People who think it's smart to drive under the influence don't deserve it. I did it for Lydia”_

“Regardless” Stiles smiled as she gripped her phone tighter “You did good”  
Allison smiled and nodded her thanks, Stiles grinned back and signed 'welcome' causing Allison to frown  
“Did I do it wrong?” Stiles made a face “I remember Lydia doing it the other day-”  
Allison cut him off with a grin and opened up her phone  
 _“I just wasn't expecting it”_  
“Ah” Stiles grinned  


To say it had been a rough night had been the biggest understatement of the century.  
Allison was pretty sure she had only managed to get two hours (if she was lucky)  
Honestly, she shouldn't have been surprised by the nightmares. It wasn't as though she didn't suffer from them daily already, but to assume that it wouldn't be that bad after the events of the night prior had been bad judgement on Allison's part.  
Flashes of light and the crunch of metal, the smell and taste of blood and the eventual sounds of sirens had plagued her dreams all night  
The only difference between last night and every other was how much it felt like that night, like the last three years had been the dream and she was still there, she was still watching it happen.  
Her stomach twisted with guilt as she pulled herself from her thoughts, throwing her books into her bag quickly.  
The sound of the doorbell pulled her from her thoughts, Allison frowned and checked herself in the mirror quickly, relieved that she had taken the time to conceal the bags under her eyes  
“Allison!” Her father called “Door for you!”  
Allison frowned deeper and ran over a check-list in her mind, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything before running down the steps  
“Allison!” Scott smiled brightly “How are you?”  
Allison smiled back and held a thumb up  
“Good, I was wondering if you wanted to walk to school together?” He gestured with his hands “Isaac's place is on the way, but Stiles told me last night that you live pretty close to us all so....”  
Allison grinned and waved goodbye to her dad before following Scott down the path  


 

  
“So word got out that Jackson lost his licence” Erica announces at lunch  
“Good” Stiles pokes at his burger “How did word get out?”  
“Someone overheard Greenberg talking about it with Danny” Erica explained, reaching over to steal some chips from Allison, who batted her hand away with a frown  
“I'm not even surprised” Stiles muttered, shoving a handful of fries into his mouth  
“Is that what happened last night?” Isaac asked, turning to Allison “Jackson was drunk and you didn't want him to drive?”  
Allison nodded  
“And now the whole school knows Lydia and Jackson got arrested” Erica replied  
“Lydia didn't actually get charged” Stiles pointed out  
“Yeah, but the fact remains that she got put in the back of your dads squad car and taken to the station. And now the whole school knows” she looks at Allison “Is she pissed at you? She's probably pissed at you”  
Allison shrugged and typed out a message _“I'd rather her hate me than her be dead”  
_ Erica whistled “Damn Argent, you're the romantic type aren't you?”  
Allison raised an eyebrow  
“Erica, that's not romantic, that's making sure somebody doesn't die because they're boyfriend is a pathetic ass hole” Stiles replied, Allison nodded in agreement and held her hand up for a high five, which Stiles gladly gave. Boyd looked up from the group to scan the cafeteria  
“She does stare at you a lot Allison, have you noticed?”  
Allison followed his gaze to where, unsurprisingly, she met Lydia's. The redhead stared at her for a few moments and tilted her head, looking apologetic, she watched Lydia raise her hand slightly and curls it into a fist, holding it close to her chest and then rotates the hand a few times counter clockwise. It took Allison a moment, but she nodded and signed her thanks back.  
“What was that?” Stiles asked, clearly watching the interaction, Allison grabbed for her phone again  
 _“She said she was sorry”  
  
  
_ “What's up with you?” Jackson frowned at her, Lydia waited until Allison had signed back a thank you before turning to meet his eyes with a smile  
“Oh nothing,” She waved flippantly “Just a chest pain”  
“I don't think a chest pain can be classified as 'nothing'” Danny remarks  
“I'm fine” Lydia insisted, glancing briefly back over at Allison “I promise”  
Jackson merely huffed in response pulling out his phone as it began to ring “That's my dad” He looks up to Danny “He's trying to get my charges dropped” He grabs his bag and leaves before either Lydia or Danny can reply, Danny watches him go and as soon as he's out of earshot he leans closer to Lydia  
“He does realise that he's incredibly lucky to have gotten away with just a ban and a fine?”  
“Please” Lydia rolled her eyes “He feels like he's been set up, he's probably going to go after the sheriffs job for this”  
Danny narrowed his eyes slightly “He was set up though, wasn't he?”  
“You say it like somebody forced him to drink an entire flask of vodka and then get behind the wheel” Lydia frowned  
“No but,” Danny pointedly glances over where Allison is sat with her friends “They had something to do with it, right? I mean Stiles is the sheriffs son”  
Lydia hesitated before replying “They haven't said anything, but yeah” She nods “How did you know?”  
Danny smirked and mimicked the action she had done a few minutes ago  
“You know sign?”  
“Bits” Danny shrugged “I have a cousin in Arizona, I figured if you were apologising to Allison for something, there must be a reason why”  
“Look at you going all detective” Lydia smirked, she glanced over at Allison again “She came up to me in the bathroom last night, she asked me if he was drunk, if he was driving... And then she called me stupid” she frowned “I feel stupid” She admitted “I didn't know he was that drunk”  
“He drinks a lot” Danny agreed  
“Yeah”  
Danny glanced over to the table again “I think a face to face apology is warranted at some point”  
“Jackson told me you guys saw her leaving that therapy place with Stilinski”  
“Yeah” Danny hummed “Jackson thinks she's crazy”  
“She's not” Lydia replied quickly  
“I know” Danny nodded, he looked over to where Jackson was coming back “Just make sure he doesn't start spreading that around” he added quietly  
Lydia nodded, she knew how damaging it was for a student when the rest of the school found out they went to therapy- it had been what drove Cora Hale away, last Lydia had heard, she had moved to South America- with the permission of her siblings of course- to study there, a new start, it was for the best, Cora has been completely ostracised by the rest of her year

 

 

The rest of the day passed quickly, the weekend moved even fast than that. Saturday had brought Allison over to Scott's where they started the Buffy marathon- a whole day of watching TV with her friends and eating junk food, she'd regret it later. But for those few hours, it was glorious  
Before Allison knew it, she was sat on Laura's sofa, filling her in on the events of the last few days  
“So Jackson is trying to have the sheriff fired?” Laura asked, Allison nodded “How does that make you feel?”  
Allison shrugged before writing a response  
 _“Guilty, because the sheriff was doing his job and angry because Jackson is a self-entitled ass hole”  
_ “I know all about him” Laura hummed in agreement “You don't regret being the one to cause Jackson to lose his licence?”  
Allison frowned _“I didn't do that, he did that when he decided to down a flask of vodka”  
_ Laura grinned “Good, I’m glad you see it that way, the sheriff will be fine, I’m sure of it”  
Allison gave a non-committal shrug  
“So, you're getting closer with your friends? You mentioned how they seem to be able to be able to know what you're trying to say based on your expressions  
Allison smiled and nodded  
“I can see that, no doubt you'll work out your own language with them eventually”  
 _“Stiles signed me that night”  
_ “He did?”  
Allison nodded again _“He mimicked what he had seen Lydia do”  
_ “And how are things with Lydia? You said she signed you an apology the next day, has she spoken to you since?”  
Allison frowned and shook her head  
“Would you like her to?”  
 _“Honestly, I'd be happy to hear her talk in general, she has a nice voice”_

“You've certainly fallen for her haven't you?”  
Allison let her shoulders drop and nodded once, Laura glanced at the clock and Allison felt herself tense up, she knew what was coming  
“The anniversary is soon” Laura says, watching Allison carefully, clearly trying to gauge a response.  
Allison swallowed thickly and nodded  
“Are you going to describe that night to me before then?”  
A shrug, Allison broke eye contact with Laura and directed her attention to drawing shapes on the page  
“What about with your friends? Stiles?”  
Another shrug, Allison started to scribble at the page now, it was inevitable. She had to write about it someday, Laura wasn't going to let up on it until she did and it was only a matter of time before her friends got tired of wondering and just confronted her about it  
“They know you don't like to be in a car, and they respect that. They aren't going to force an explanation from you Allison” Laura smiled

 

 

  
“So your dads keeping his job?” Scott asked hopefully  
“Yep” Stiles grinned “Jackson's dad doesn't see the point, it's like we've all been saying from the start, Jackson could have gotten worse and Mr Whittemore feels that its 'in his sons best interest if he learns from his mistakes'” He adds with a laugh

Allison grins and looks up, her smile faltering immediately as she nudges Stiles, Stiles glances at her and follows her gaze  
“Speak of the devil” he says as Jackson storms up to them  
“Your dads lucky to still have a job Stilinski” he growls, Stiles takes an instinctive step backwards, pulling Scott and Allison with him. Allison feels herself tense and makes a conscious effort to keep her focus on Jackson  
“You're lucky to still be alive Whittmore” Stiles retorts easily “Way I hear it, you had blood in your alcohol stream”  
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”  
“It means you were so wasted it's a miracle you were even standing” Stiles snaps, Allison sees Scott flash them both a cautious glance from the corner of her eye, she's also becoming aware of the crowd they're beginning to attract  
“I was fine” Jackson steps closer, Allison took note of how the muscles along his shoulders tensed, the vein in his neck throbbing, this guy was pissed to say the least  
“Really?” Stiles smirks and Allison clenches her fist, she knows he's sarcastic, knows he prefers to handle situations by handing people their asses.  
Jackson looks like the kind of guy who deals with situations with a broken nose.  
At least they have that in common  
Stiles laughs “What's the matter Jackson? The rich white boy life not all it's cracked up to be? I mean, if you have to get absolutely wasted when you're on a date with Lydia Martin you have to be messed up”  
Allison watches the way Jackson's jaw locks and knows before he even has a chance to move that he's about to attack, she steps in front of Stiles, places both of her palm flat on his chest and shoves him with such force even she was shocked, Jackson stumbled back several paces, Allison straightened herself out and held her head up high, challenging. Jackson stared at her in shock for a moment, she wondered if he was conflicted about fighting a girl, the laughing of students around them seemed to push away those conflicts, she could tell from looking at him that he was embarrassed, maybe regretting starting this in such a public setting  
It was a good thing she didn't care about his feelings  
Jackson started towards her and Allison found herself matching his steps when Lydia stepped between them both, holding a hand out, freezing them both  
Lydia was _touching_ her  
It was pretty much game over from there, Allison felt all of the fight sink out of her, though she forced her shoulders to stay tense (purely for the sake of appearance) She held Jackson's glare and consciously blamed the way her heart was racing on the situation and _not_ because Lydia's hand was right next to that spot  
“Both of you. Stop” She said firmly, looking at Jackson first and then turning to Allison “Okay?” Allison looked back up to Jackson and tilted her head with a smirk, a gesture she hoped he took as a challenge  
“Mute bitch” he spat  
“Jackson” Lydia snapped, pushing him away “Enough” Jackson took a step back  
“Come on dude” Danny appeared by Jackson's side, Jackson begrudgingly let himself be led away.  
Allison watched them move down the hallway and the students began to disperse slowly, she let her shoulders relax and glanced down to Lydia, suddenly aware of one: How Lydia is actually considerably shorter than Allison and like a million times more attractive up close and when Allison isn't in the middle of panicking and two: Lydia's hand is still on her chest.  
Lydia glances down at her hand and snatches it away as though she had been burnt  
“Sorry about that” She says “About the whole thing actually” She glances past Allison at Stiles “Are you okay?” She focuses back on Allison who nods  
“That was so bad ass Allison” Stiles says from behind her “You just jumped in and BAM, shoved him so hard he didn't know what hit him!” Allison looks at him from over her shoulder, raising a perfect eyebrow with a smirk, he glances past her at Lydia and hums slightly, grabbing at Scott's arm “We'll see you in class?” He doesn't wait for Allison's response before dragging Scott away, Allison rolls her eyes and turns back to Lydia  
“I wanted to say sorry about last week as well, for how I acted at the bowling ally...” Lydia scrunched her nose and Allison could tell genuine apologies weren't something she particularly invested herself in “I should have listened to you and I’m sorry for dismissing you like that”  
Allison smiled and reached into her bag for her notebook,  
 _“I'm sorry I called you stupid”_ She even added a smiley face  
Lydia smiled at the page “That's okay, I deserved it”  
Allison made a face, _“Not really, I was just upset, I shouldn't have said it”  
_ “If you insist” Lydia laughed, Allison's smile grew wider, Lydia had a beautiful laugh “I-” Lydia began but was cut short by her phone, she flashed Allison an apologetic smile and checked it, a slight frown gracing her features “It's Jackson, I better go before he pops an aneurysm” she added with a laugh, she looked back up to Allison and smiled softly “See you around?”  
Allison smiled and nodded, Lydia's smile brightened slightly as she waved before turning sharply on her heels, granting Allison a whiff of her perfume leaving her dazed for a moment until she realises she's hanging around like some kind of creep, shaking her head from her thoughts Allison sets off towards class

 

 

"Well, that was an interesting development" Stiles smirked, Allison rolled her eyes at him and slid down into her seat  
"Stiles doesn't seem all that bothered by the fact that Jackson was about to punch him" Scott remarks  
"Please" Stiles waves a hand "Allison went all kick ass silent assassin on his ass" he added with a grin  
Allison winks at Stiles as she pulls out her work  
"What did Lydia say?" Scott asked, Allison glanced up at him and held a finger up with her left hand as she found a fresh page and scribbled out he response with her right  
 _"she said sorry for the bowling ally, but Jackson called her before we could talk about much else”  
_ Stiles groaned at the page "he's such a cock block"  
Allison shared a frown with Scott _"he is her boyfriend Stiles"  
_ "technicality " he dismissed with a wave "he doesn't deserve her"  
"Stiles is just moody because he had a crush on her for years" Scott grins, leaning an arm on the back of his chair  
"That is irrelevant" Stiles points a finger at Scott "I moved on to pining over Danny thank you" he leans back in his seat and stretches his back "the way I see it, Lydia martin is the smartest girl I have ever known" he tilts his head towards Allison "seriously, you should see her math skills, it's insane" Allison leant closer towards him on her desk, hanging on every word "Jackson is the stereotypical empty headed jock who has more testosterone than braincells" Stiles frowned and rested his chin in his hand "I don't like him"  
Allison nodded in agreement, it wasn't that she was jealous- okay, she was jealous, but everything Stiles said was true, sure Jackson was attractive, but even looks don't make up for that lively personality he's sporting, Allison frowned and leant forward, folding her arms into her desk, Stiles smiled at her and leant over to pat her hair, Allison's frown grew and she sighed inwardly  
She was screwed

 

 

Lydia busied herself with organising the contents of her locker, glancing at Danny in the reflection of her mirror as Jackson continued the rant that she had no doubt hadn't stopped since she had stepped between him and Allison, she felt sorry for Danny, who had probably dealt with this all through class  
“-Fucking Stilinski man, what the fuck does he know about my life? God I can't wait till practice, I'm gonna get him so good, he'll be seeing stars for a week” Danny merely hummed in response and gave Jackson a steady look, Lydia had to appreciate his temperament, how he can listen to Jackson be so unnecessarily cruel when Danny is so kind and gentle, but she guesses it works, knows from experience that Danny has been there to talk Jackson down from making some stupid decisions throughout his life.  
And Lydia is so thankful for Danny, because honestly, she probably would have killed Jackson by now  
“-And that Allison chick? I bet she's a fucking psycho, probably killed someone and that's why she sees a therapist and doesn't talk-” Lydia cut him off by slamming her locker more forcefully than was most likely necessary.  
This had officially become one of those moments where Danny was probably going to have to remove Jackson from the scene  
“Jackson” Lydia smiled sweetly “I'm sorry that you're so miserable that you have to resort to picking fights Stiles Stilinski and his friends and I’m sorry that you were- lets face it, idiotic for thinking you could get away with driving with that much alcohol in your system, but is your ego so fragile that you feel so threatened by a girl you resort to insulting her and mocking her for not being able to speak when she isn't even here to defend herself-?” And she can see Jackson's mind concoct a smug response, Lydia pauses long enough, raises an eyebrow in challenge, just _daring_ him to try It, the moment passes and he doesn't say a word, so Lydia continues “You have no idea what she has been through, you don't know anything about her” Lydia takes a step forward, moving right into Jackson's space “And you know what? Mock her for seeing a therapist all you want, that building doesn't advertise what it is, the only reason you know it's where a therapist works is because you went there yourself with your mommy and daddy adoption issues. So think about that the next time you decide to be a whiny little bitch” Lydia finishes with a snap, and normally she wouldn't swear during arguments, normally it would show a loss in control and Jackson would see it as a victory, not this time though, Lydia watched as Jackson's face shift from confusion to disbelief to hurt before settling on rage and she knew every word had hit their mark.  
He didn't even say anything, just blew a puff of air through his nostrils and turned around before storming past a small group of onlookers, for the second time today Jackson had unintentionally drawn a crowd in, only to have them watch him get his ass handed to him.  
Lydia didn't feel any sympathy as she grinned, she looked over to Danny  
“Brutal” he said “But effective”  
“You should go after him” Lydia replied  
Danny shrugged “I guess, you okay?”  
“Oh I’m great” Lydia replied honestly “That felt good”  
Danny hummed and looked past Lydia, a smile playing on his lips “I better go after him” He nodded his head somewhere past her before turning and heading in the direction Jackson had left. Lydia frowned and looked over her shoulder,  
Only to see Allison staring straight back at her with wide eyes

  

 

“What is wrong with you” Erica leant over the table and flicked Allison in the forehead “Idiot”  
“You are an idiot” Isaac added  
“She defended you and you ran away!” Stiles exclaimed, Allison turned to him with wide eyes  
 _“I DID NOT RUN AWAY”  
_ “You fucking ran Argent” Erica replied, leaning back after reading the message  
 _“What else was I supposed to do?”  
_ “How about talk to the girl you have a massive crush on who also happened to defend you in a very public argument with her boyfriend?” Isaac suggested  
“Which would then lead to lots of making out and then sex” Erica added  
“Serious question” Isaac leant forward “Would you moan? Like would you make sound?”  
“Isaac...” Scott frowned, he hesitated for a moment “But that is a good question”  
Allison shrugged in response, it was a good question, twirling her pen in her fingers before writing a response

“ _I haven't laughed or made any other sound so... probably not?”  
_ “Well....” Stiles scratched the side of his head, stealing a handful of smarties from Scott and splitting them with Allison “The whole reason you're seeing Laura is to help you eventually get your speech back right?”  
Allison shrugged _“I guess so”  
_ Stiles nodded “Well, now you have a goal” He tapped his chin thoughtfully, Allison stared at him as she reached for her water, unscrewing the cap “Your goal is to be able to moan Lydia's name when you guys inevitably have sex” Allison's body jerked forward, spraying water over Erica and Boyd  
“WHAT THE FUCK” Erica yelled, Allison slammed a palm down onto the table and ducked her head, coughing horrifically loud  
“I- Holy shit, Allison” Stiles slammed his hand into her back until she pushed his hand away with a glare, blinking several times and sucking in a long breath. She narrowed her eyes into a glare and flicked him in the forehead before smiling apologetically at Erica and Boyd  
“So that was the first sound we've ever heard you make” Isaac remarked  
“Is that why it took you so long to help?” Boyd looks pointedly at Stiles, using the corner of his hoodie to wipe at Erica's jacket  
“It was a shock” Stiles muttered “Sorry”  
Allison rubbed her throat with the back of her hand and waved dismissively with the other  
“When is your next session?” Boyd asked. Allison paused and thought as she reached for her sketchbook and pulled her coloured pencils from her bag, Laura had cancelled tomorrows session because of family related issues so that means...  
Allison held up her hand, palm open

“Five days? No session tomorrow?” Stiles asked, Allison shook her head “Awesome! We have lacrosse practice tomorrow, you wanna come watch?”  
Allison grinned and nodded, she had been meaning to ask Laura to switch around their days so she could see her friends play before their game in a couple of weeks  
“Awesome, you're gonna love it!” He turned to rest of the group “We can get food afterwards!!”  
“Do you ever think of anything other than food?” Isaac frowned  
“Video games, comics, Danny all naked and oiled-”  
“NOPE” Erica reached forward and slapped a hand over his mouth “Please don't finish that sentence I swear to god”  
Allison smirked as Stiles licked Erica's hand leading to a food fight between the pair as she began to draw  
“What're you doing Allison?” Boyd asked, Allison held up her book for just long enough to see what she had done so far “Ah” He smiled “It's beautiful”  
Allison responded with a dimpled smile  
  


Lydia adjusted the books under her arm as she reached her locker, Jackson had been giving her the silent treatment all day and quite frankly it had been a pleasant break, it was incredibly peaceful without your boyfriend around to insult Allison.  
Who Lydia was increasingly aware that she had a crush on.  
It wasn't like It was a shock, Allison was shockingly attractive, always dressed impeccably, legs that seemed to go on forever, perfect hair and an even more perfect jaw line (Lydia suspected she was attracted to people with good jaw lines) And she few times she had seen Allison really smile, she had found that the girl had dimples and Lydia had been overwhelmed with the urge to press her thumb into them.  
But it was her eyes that Lydia liked the most,

not only were they the most gorgeous shade of brown she had ever seen, they were just so damn emotive- she knew that Allison relied a lot on people being able to read her body language, but nothing could have prepared her for seeing those eyes up close and personal.  
Lydia was so lost in her thoughts she almost missed her locker entirely. Blinking herself from her haze, Lydia made quick work of spinning the dial and pulling the door open, only to have a neatly folded sheet of paper drop to her feet, glancing up and down the empty hallway, Lydia placed her books inside the locker before bending down to pick it up, she closed her locker to lean against it, she let out a quiet gasp as she opened the note  
Inside it lay a hand drawn bouquet of flowers- the fact that they were drawn led nothing to the imagination as to who had sent the note, red carnations dominated the bouquet, beautiful white gardenias strategically placed around them with small blossoms of blue flowers curling around the vase like vines. In the centre of the bouquet rested several deep purple flowers. Lydia traced the drawing, marvelling at the amount of detail that had been put into each individual petal, she glanced underneath the vase to see, in gorgeous black calligraphy script _“Thank you”_ Lydia felt her smile grows she scanned the rest of the page, finding, in the bottom right corner, written so small that had she not been actively looking for it she would have missed it _“-A.A”_  
Lydia smiled and held the note close to her chest, thankful that the hallway was empty.  
It was safe to say her crush was pretty solidified at this point

   
 

“So I had an idea” Stiles pulls out over a dozen sheets of crumpled paper and sets them down on the desk, Allison stares at the pages before reaching for one, the rest of the group following suit  
“Sign language?” Erica looked up from her page “You want to learn sign language?”  
“Just basics” Stiles sat down and grabbed the page from Allison's hands “Like yeah, we've got a pretty good understanding of you now so we know what you're going to say before you actually grab your pen and that we have a system for some things, but this'll just make it easier, I'm just saying" Stiles shrugged, glancing at Allison "it'll be fun, what'd you guys think?"  
Isaac reached for one of the pages "does this mean I'll be able to tell Scott what I want to do to him while we're sat across the room?"  
"I guess?" Stiles frowned  
"I'm in"  
Scott nodded in agreed agreement  
"Sure, why not?" Erica shrugged, winking at Allison  
"It'll be fun" Boyd agreed  
"Allison?" Stiles turned to face her "what do you say?"  
Allison looked across the table, lingering on everybody before settling on Stiles, letting a grin find it's way to her lips and nods

 

 

"Well that's adorable" Danny looks across the cafeteria  
"What?" Lydia looked up and followed his gaze to the ever familiar table, her eyes falling on Allison frowning at a page in her hand before making a sign with her right hand. Stiles made another sign back at her and judging from the laughter that erupts from the table, whatever he had responded had clearly been the wrong thing, beside her Danny chuckles  
"What did they say?" Lydia asked  
"Doesn't matter" he replied, turning back to his lunch "you coming to watch practice today?"  
Lydia thought for a moment before nodding "yeah, yeah, why not" she shrugged  
"You guys are still together right?" Danny asked  
Lydia poked her spoon into her yoghurt "yeah"  
"You don't seem too happy about that" Danny pointed out  
Lydia glanced around the room quickly, leaning forward with a barely there sigh "he's being an ass hole"  
Danny hummed "I hear that" he stares thoughtfully at Lydia for a moment "you can leave him you know, if you're not happy"  
"I know" Lydia nodded  
"Are you going to leave him?"  
Lydia stared at Danny for a moment and glanced over at Allison  
"I think I might"

 

 

Lydia waved at Danny from the bleachers as the boys ran out onto the pitch, the boy smiled easily and waved back, just as enthusiastically, her eyes feel briefly on Jackson as he says something to Danny, Lydia rolls her eyes and scans the rest of the squad, watching as Isaac Lahey slapped the McCall kids ass and then proceeded to practically have sex right there on the field, wrinkling her nose at the pair, Lydia turned her attention back down to her AP math homework, the sounds of the bogs playing soon turned to background noise as she began worming out the equations, she had no real reason to be there to watch practice, originally she only ever went along to brag about her number one athlete boyfriend, she didn't anticipate that she would actually start to care about the sport, let alone care for the players- especially when Scott McCall and his group made first line and began to dominate the game  
Now she came along for genuine moral support, the team didn't suck as bad as they used to and it was nice to have something in this school to actually be proud of  
Lydia hummed to herself as she wrote in another answer, she glanced down at the field and saw that the squad had been split into two teams for a practice match, wincing in sympathy as Jackson body checked Stiles, sending the boy to the ground   
Honestly, Lydia wondered if coach Finstock knew about the relationships among the players in the squad and that he had chosen these teams just to cause trouble. Lydia watched Scott pull the smaller boy up and check him over, Isaac and Boyd circling him and shooting cautious glances over to Jackson. Lydia rolled her eyes and went back to finishing her work, she had no intention of sticking around for when they finished, Jackson would be hinting for a booty call and it was laughable that he even thought he had a chance  
"Heads up!" She heard someone yell from the field, Lydia looked up in time to see the ball flying towards her with such speed she knew she had no chance to get out of the way, Lydia braced herself for impact, at the last moment a hand shot out in front of her face, the ball crashing against the palm with a sound that made Lydia wince. Lydia let out a long breath and looked up at the owner only to see Allison grinning down at her, dimples on display for all to see  
Allison moves her arm back and throws the ball up in the air a few times  
"Allison!" Stiles pulls off his helmet and runs to the sideline "you good?"  
Allison looked down at the boy and nodded, throwing the ball down to him, Stiles catches it easily and yells his thanks, pulling down his helmet and running back out onto the field. Lydia watches Allison shuffle awkwardly on the spot for the moment, watching the boys practice and rotating her wrist a few times, frowning at the movement. Finally her eyes leave the field and look back down to Lydia, smiling softly and tilting her head in question, gesturing to the space beside her  
"Oh, of course!" Lydia grabbed her books and shoved them all into her bag, making space to allow Allison to sit down beside her. Lydia watched Allison rub her hands over her legs and up her arms with a frown "cold?" Lydia asked with a smirk  
Allison smiled and shrugged, reaching into her bag with her left hand and she continued to rotate her right wrist  
"Thank you for that, by the way" Lydia spoke up "seriously, that was completely bad ass" she added with a laugh, Allison flashed another grin at her and flicked to a new page "did it hurt?" Lydia asked, Allison frowned at her and nodded, holding her hand out for Lydia to see, a deep red welt raising along the skin of her palm, silently, Lydia reached out and traced the pattern of the welt, Lydia distinctly heard Allison's breath hitch and realised with a start that it had been the first time she had ever heard a sound from the girl beside her, Allison glanced out towards the pitch and pulled her hand away from Lydia  
"Where's your friend?" Lydia asked, clearing here throat and placing her hands in her lap  
Allison glanced at her with a frown and gestured out towards the pitch  
"No" Lydia laughed "I meant Erica"  
Allison's eyes widened in realisation and grabbed her pen  
 _"detention, long story"  
_ Lydia laughed "I'm not really surprised"  
Allison smirked and nodded in agreement  
They both turned to the game and Lydia tried to focus on it.  
Needless to say she gave up on _that_ idea after about two minutes  
“I got your note” She said, only turning to Allison when the brunettes head snapped around towards her with such force it was a miracle the girls head was still attached “It was beautiful, thank you. You're an amazing artist” She turned to Allison and to her surprise (delight) Allison turned a deep shade of red, ducking her head in a weak attempt to hide her blush and Lydia ducks her head to try and look beyond those dark curls, Allison lifts her head slightly and catches Lydia's eye “What do the flowers mean?” It was something Lydia had been wondering about since she had gotten home that day, what the flowers had meant, whether they held any meanings or were just random creations of the girls mind. Lydia had quickly reasoned out that last point though, Allison's drawings had been so precise, so meticulous- they had to have meant something  
Allison lifted her head fully and smirked, joy dancing behind her eyes  
“You're not going to tell me, are you?”  
Allison grinned and shook her head  
“Mean” Lydia pouted

 

Allison gaped at the sight, Lydia pouting is shockingly attractive- well! Lydia in general is shockingly attractive, seriously, after spending so much time studying her from afar, Allison is incredibly proud of herself for being able to look away, she wants nothing more than to study every feature- as to be able to capture her likeness better on paper  
Honestly, no drawing or painting would ever do Lydia justice.  
She tried to look away from those lips, tried not to think about what Lydia would look like with smudged and lips bruised from kissing.  
Allison blinked several times, taking note of Lydia's confused expression and blushed deeply, averting her gaze, looking down to the field in time to see Stiles dodge another attack from Jackson and launch the ball into the goal. Grinning, she waves down at him when he catches his eyes. She looks back to Lydia, watches her watch the game for a moment, she scribbles something down on her book and reaches over to nudge Lydia, Lydia turns to her and raises an eyebrow, Allison taps her pen against her book  
 _“Why did you fake being so good at bowling?”  
_ “You saw that?”  
Allison gave Lydia a look she hoped would translate into a 'are you kidding' And Lydia responded with a chuckle that told her the message had been received. Lydia pursed her lips and glanced out at Jackson  
“He's.... Sensitive”  
Not the words Allison or any of her friends would use, but okay  
“It would have made him intolerable if I would have beaten him”  
Allison frowned _“But you did beat him, you bowled perfect strikes, what changed?"  
_ Lydia shrugged “He made some not very nice comments about you and your friends”  
 _"Why does it matter what he says about me?”  
_ “Because it's not true” Lydia replied easily  
 _“You don't know that, you hardly know me"  
_ “Well” Lydia smirks and nudged Allison's shoulder with her own “We'll just have to fix that right?”

  
  
Lydia spent the rest of practice asking all kinds of questions, her family was originally from France, she had moved a lot over the course of her life, she loved pizza and skittles, her favourite colour was purple (Lydia could have guessed that from the hoodie Allison was currently wearing, but that was irrelevant) her favourite singer was Ellie Goulding, her favourite movie was pulp fiction and she had recently discovered the brilliance that Is Buffy the vampire slayer  
Lydia was lost  
Her eyes seldom left the brunette, she watched the way Allison held her gaze whenever Lydia answered one of Allison's questions, the way her wrist glided across the page, filling it with her neat script, the way her brow crinkles in concentration as she sketches out a response. The way that when Lydia is talking, or when they stop for a few moments to actually watch their friends practice, Allison rubs her hands along her jeans, trying to force some heat into them but refusing to admit that she's cold when Lydia calls her out on it  
Honestly, it's hard not to fall for this girl  
  
  
“Okay so I’ve been waiting _forever_ to say this,” Stiles begins as he slings his stuff over his shoulder as he approaches Allison and Lydia, Scott and the others following close behind “But are you a ninja?” He asks Allison “Because I’m starting to suspect you're a ninja”  
Allison glanced at Lydia with a smirk  
“Seriously, that was awesome” Scott chimed in

“I have to agree, that was impressive” Danny called, walking towards them “Good practice guys” He smiled at the team and Lydia didn't miss the way Stiles gaped at Danny and chuckled- Danny had that effect on people. Danny stopped just short of Allison and held his hand out  
“Danny Mehealani, Allison right?” Allison nodded and shook his hand “Nice to finally meet you, sorry about Jackson yesterday” He smiled softly, Allison smiled back  
“Guys!” Erica called “How was practice?” the blonde jogged up to them, doing a double take at seeing Lydia and Danny  
“Oh my god It was awesome” Stiles turned to her “Allison is a ninja”  
Erica frowned “Okay?”  
“Long story” Isaac dismissed, he looked to the group expectantly “Something that would be best discussed over burgers and milkshakes?”  
“Huh? Oh, right” Stiles clapped his hands together “Well, this has been lovely but we better be heading off” he pointed a thumb behind him and watched as he seemed to have an entire conversation with Allison, simply through the way they tilted their heads at one another and Lydia found herself jealous of the boy- jealous of Stiles Stilinski, who would've thought. She wanted to be able to read Allison like he could, to be able to communicate through head tilts and smiles  
She wants that with Allison and she isn't quite sure what to do with that information  
“You guys want to come along?” Stiles asks eventually, eyes flicking between Danny and Lydia  
“Can't, I have to babysit my brother tonight” Danny replied apologetically  
“And I have homework due tomorrow” Lydia added, she looked to Allison, who was clearly trying to hide the sadness in her eyes “Another time?” she suggested, placing a hand on Allison's arm, she needed that look to be gone immediately thank you  
Allison brightened immediately and nodded  
“Okay then” Stiles spoke up “Well, see you two around”  
“Yeah,” Lydia nodded, eyes still on Allison “See you around”  
Lydia watched as Allison held her gaze for a few moments longer before nodding, and following Stiles and the rest of her group down the hall, Erica throwing an arm over Allison and muttering something in her ear as she does so, Lydia turns to face Danny, a sly grin on his face  
“What?” Lydia asked  
“Come on Lydia, don't be coy, I want details”  
“Details about what?” Lydia asked, “There's nothing to tell” she turned when the sound of footsteps connecting against the floor to see Allison jogging towards them, her friends a distance away watching her carefully. Allison slowed until she was less than a foot away, she looked adorably nervous, one of her fists was clenched around something, Lydia waited patiently and after a moment, Allison reached over and took one of Lydia's hands in her own and Lydia's first thought was how damn cold the girls hand was, but then Allison was pressing whatever was in her fist into Lydia's hand and the contact was over a lot sooner than she would have liked  
Allison smiled and walked backwards for a few seconds, waving goodbye before spinning on her heel and jogging back to her friends  
Lydia opened her hand and unfolded the strip of paper, Danny leant over her shoulder  
“And that's her number isn't it? Tell me again how there's nothing to tell” He grinned “You better text me every detail”  
Lydia frowned “Aren't you supposed to be completely against me having a crush on someone else when I'm dating your best friend?”  
Danny looked thoughtful for a minute as he leant against the lockers “Well... For a start I just got you to admit you have a crush on her, so go me” He high fives himself “Secondly, Jackson is my best friend, but you're also my friend and he's being a dick, thirdly, Allison is really cute and you would be a hot couple”  
“I definitely think I have to break up with Jackson” Lydia stared down at the paper in her hand  
“I think you do”  


  
“You seem very bright today” Laura noted, Allison played with the edges of her gloves before rolling her head to the side to look at Laura, careful not to knock the notebook off of her chest, Laura was in her regular seat whereas Allison had opted to lie down on the sofa, she glanced at her gloved hands again and smiled, they were a deep purple, just like her hoodie and she had found them in her locker (how they had gotten in there she didn't know, she tried not to think about it too much) accompanied with a small note;  
 _“Because I know you were cold- L.M”  
_ Allison decided she quite liked the cold weather now. Allison swung her legs off of the sofa so she was sat upright, grabbing her pen she scribbled something down and held it out for Laura  
 _“Why don't I talk?”  
_ Laura frowned “Surely you know your reasons behind it?”  
Allison shrugged, of course she knew, but she had discovered recently that hearing somebody tell her what she already knew was a good motivator, hearing Stiles tell her that the reason she was even in this office was to work through her problems, to deal with the events that had caused for her to stop speaking  
She hadn't really been able to stop thinking about it since  
She did want to speak again, she really did  
 _“Can you tell me anyway?”_ She wrote  
Laura stared at her for a moment, seemingly confused by the request, but nodded nonetheless “The reason you don't speak to anybody is through guilt, you feel that by speaking you caused your mother to die, you're scared that if you speak to somebody, they're going to die like she did, a contributing factor to why you don't speak is a lack of trust, the students from the school you were going to when the accident happened bullied and ostracised you and you lost your friends, you were moved a lot more so making new friends became harder, especially with your fear of being in a car, effectively forcing you further into your shell, you feel guilt towards your father because you feel that you took his wife from him and he hasn't recovered from that, your guilt is intensified by the fact that you can't speak, you have a history of being with bad therapists and lacking a social circle of friends to help you deal with your grief” Laura finished “Is that what you wanted to hear?” she added after a moment  
Allison didn't look up, she was more focused on the way her tears fell onto the paper on her lap, the way the ink bled and ran. She nodded. Silently, Laura reached for the box of tissues always on her desk and handed them over to Allison

Laura didn't speak again until Allison had more or less composed herself  
“Why did you ask me to do that?”  
Allison spent a minute or two focusing on her breathing, taking her time to write out her response  
 _“Because I want to tell my friends”_

 

  
  
“Stilinski!” Lydia called, ignoring the questioning looks from other passing students as she approached the boy  
“Hey Lydia, what's up?”  
“Can I ask you something?”  
“Shoot” Stiles folded his arms against himself as he leant against his locker  
“You and Allison aren't dating right?”  
Stiles laughed, honest to god laughed right in Lydia's face “Holy shit I'm sorry, no. My and Allison are not dating oh my god” He laughed “Oh my god how could you even think that?”  
“Because!” Lydia began, considerably louder than originally intended “Because you have this whole silent mind reading thing going on with her”  
“We're _friends._ I relate to her, I hang out with her a lot” Stiles replied “Also it's pretty easy to read Allison”  
“Okay” Lydia nodded “Is she dating Erica? Because Erica always has her arm around her and-”  
“She's not dating Erica” Stiles cut her off with a laugh “Why are you even asking this?”  
“Isn't it obvious?”  
“Well, yeah” Stiles shrugged “But you're dating Jackson and I’ll be dammed if I let him near her”  
“Even though she defended you from him not too long ago”  
“Technicality” Stiles waved a hand “The fact remains that you're still dating him” Stiles began to turn away from her  
“I'm breaking up with him” Lydia replied, Stiles span around so fast he almost lost balance and toppled over, he threw a hand out against his locker to steady himself, he gave her a look that was as close to 'deer in headlights' as you could get  
“Seriously? When?”  
“After your game Friday, per Danny's request, he said the last thing you guys need is for him to be even more intolerable and risk losing that game”  
“We do need to win” Stiles agreed quietly, “So what, you're breaking up with him for Allison? Won't that remove your queen bee status?”  
“Maybe it will, maybe it won't” Lydia shrugged  
“You don't care?”  
“Not any more” Lydia replied quietly “I'm talking to you in full public aren't I?”  
“Point taken” Stiles agreed “And this is all because of Allison?”  
Lydia nodded again  
“Yeah” Stiles chuckled, “She has that effect on people” Stiles remarks as he walks away  
“So I’ve learnt” Lydia mutters to herself. Honestly, Lydia was becoming an expert on the effect Allison had on people.

More specifically, herself  
Not even in the early days of her relationship with Jackson did Lydia find herself fighting sleep at three in the morning just _waiting_ for that next message  
The conversations was seamless, often starting with Allison bringing up the vast unknowingness of the universe, how she doesn't believe in fate (but may be questioning that in recent days). They talk about religion and politics and tell each other of all of the places in which they would like to visit one day.  
She had even told Lydia that her mother had died three years ago  
Once she had, Allison hadn't responded to Lydia's message for over an hour  
An hour in which Lydia had been seriously contemplating getting into her car and driving over to the brunettes house, completely disregarding the fact that it was two in the morning and she wasn't entirely sure where the girl lived  
When Allison had replied she apologised profusely, explained that it was still hard to talk about. Lydia had understood completely, offered her condolences at the loss of her mother and then asked Allison if she had wanted to change the topic.  
The amount of mornings Lydia had woken up with her phone clutched to her chest was borderline embarrassing  
There was more to them tan that  
They had developed this almost secret way of communicating, in Lydia's defence, Allison had been the one to start it by posting that note into her locker  
She had just enforced it by responding with the gloves  
Lydia had come to her locker two days after she had given Allison the gloves to find a box of her favourite chocolates inside  
They never brought it up, not even when they crossed paths or during any of the hundreds of text messages exchanged  
Lydia didn't doubt for a minute that Stiles or any of Allison's other friends already knew about the gifts, but they never once mentioned it  
The knowledge that a girl Lydia had only known for a few weeks has Lydia re-evaluating her life and her priorities have changed  
And she's scared  
But it's a good kind of scared, the kind where something brand new is on the horizon and the potential for greatness is limitless.  
It's the kind of feeling Lydia has never really allowed herself to feel, it's all new and foreign and _amazing  
_ The way she can feel her heart in her throat when she so much as sees Allison, the way it tries to leap from her chest when she sees the girl smile, sees the dimples.  
How her heart flutters just from seeing her name light up on her phone  
How her first thought when she wakes up in the morning is of brown hair and soft eyes and her last thought as her eyes flutter shut is _how did I get so lucky to have you walk into my life  
_ She wonders if this is what the poets are talking about when they describe love 

 

“Hey there Alli A!” Stiles drops a bag of skittles in front of her and takes the seat opposite her, he glances around the library, unsurprised to find it completely empty, not many people are really into spending their free periods in a library. Allison grabbed the skittles eagerly, tearing into the packet and throwing a handful into her mouth, she grinned up at Stiles “So, why did you want to spend a perfectly good free period here?”  
He watched as Allison's smile fell, her expression turning serious as she moved the skittles to one side, with her other hand she flicks through her notebook and pulls out the letter that she had spent all night writing in between texting Lydia, she slid it across the table and nodded towards it. Stiles looked at Alison and then down at the letter. Once he picked it up and began to read. All Allison had to do now was wait and see what happened, she had spent hours writing that letter, deciding it was wrong and then tearing it up.  
It physically pained her to see so much wasted paper. It didn't help that Lydia had distracted her for so long, sleep had already taken a back seat once she had given Lydia her number, writing the letter had been almost impossible while her thoughts were focused directly on Lydia, but once the girl had fallen asleep, Allison had felt alone  
Isolated  
She had spent a while looking out of the window, moving to lie on her bed and stare at the ceiling  
The world always feels different at two in the morning  
It was easy to get lost in your thoughts then, easy to get lost in your memories  
The words had flowed after that  
How almost four years ago, she had been in the passenger seat of the car while her mother drove, how they had been arguing because Allison had just learnt that once again they were going to move and how could they do that to her? She had only just settled into school, how they had stopped at a red light so her mom could turn to her, defend their decision, how it was for the best interest in the family and how the next school would be better, that she would make new friends and Allison had lost it then  
Because she had always been the new girl, never staying still for long enough to actually lose that title, she just didn't want to be the new girl any more. She remembers the hurt on her mothers face as the lights turned green and Allison had yelled that they were ruining her life  
She remembers how her mom had started to drive, how her face had become nothing more than a silhouette as the truck had gotten closer, the way the sound of the impact had left a ringing in her ears and the way her mothers head had recoiled sharply.  
The way the glass had shattered and Allison's voice had caught in her throat as they rolled  
How she had watched her mom bleeding out, impaled by the sharp metal of the frame of the car  
How she hadn't been able to speak as her mother reached out towards her, blood soaked hand trying to touch her as she said 'I love you', repeated like a mantra until it got slower and harder to hear  
How she had watched the light die from her mothers eyes  
How she could taste blood in her mouth and the sounds of the sirens finally _finally_ got close enough for her to hear  
She remembered how she had to be cut from the car, sat on the back of an ambulance while they cut her mothers body from the wreck.  
She watched them lay her on a stretcher and pull the white sheet over her  
She remembers being in the hospital, her dad running in, sobbing, wrapping her up in his arms  
And she hadn't been able to utter a single word  
How she had cried silent tears at the funeral  
People stared at her in the hallway more

They hadn't moved in the end, had to remain until the cops caught up with the guy who hit them (It took over two months, and then the court case had taken up more time)  
Allison had stopped being the new girl  
She was the girl who wouldn't, couldn't talk  
The only protest she had made when she learned they were going to move had been regarding the fact that it meant getting into a car  
Her dad had been prepared and they had left and never looked back  
She remembered all of that  
And as Stiles set the letter down, unshed tears in his own eyes, Allison felt a weight begin to lift  
“Have you spoken about this to anybody else?” He asked, his voice shaky  
Allison shook her head and it was then she realised she was on the verge of tears herself, she had prepared for this, already written a series of responses to any questions he may have  
 _“You're the first”  
_ “Why?”  
 _“Because I trust you”  
_ Stiles nodded, a tear rolling down his cheek and Allison is betting that he's glad the library is so empty. He got up from his seat and moved into the one beside Allison and wrapped her in a hug. She pointed to a question she had written  
 _“Will you help me tell the others?”_

“Yeah” Stiles nodded “Of course” He held on tighter and that simple gesture gave Allison hope

 

 

At Stiles' suggestion, they had decided to have each person read the letter separately, and Allison was glad for the idea, but it was so emotionally draining, she was just glad Stiles was there to hold her hand (literally)  
Isaac had been the first person they had managed to find and drag into an empty classroom  
He hadn't cried when he had finished, but he looked close, he handed the letter back to Allison and hugged her tight  
“I understand that thing with Jackson now” had been his only words  
Boyd had hugged her too, though he hadn't said anything. That was okay, the smile he gave her had been comforting enough  
Erica looked angry, she had looked really angry  
“You should have shoved that fucking bowling ball down his throat” she had almost growled in Allison's ear as she hugged her tight  
Scott had cried  
He had cried _a lot  
_ Stiles had made a good call by suggesting they leave him till last because he had started crying about hallway into the story and still hadn't stopped  
“I'm going to make sure you have skittles for life” He said, hands on her head “Skittles forever because you're amazing and so brave for telling us all”

  
“Are you going to tell Lydia?” Stiles asked as they left class together  
Allison shook her head _“Not yet”_ she typed out onto her phone _“I need more time with her”  
_ “Reasonable” Stiles nodded “But why today? What made you want to tell us all?”  
 _“It'll be four years ago Sunday”  
_ “Ah”  
Allison nodded  
“You don't have to host the Buffy Marathon if you don't want to, if it's too close to that day, we can have it at mine or-”  
Allison held a hand up and silenced him _“I knew it was the anniversary when I agreed to do it, it'll be fine, I want you guys there”  
_ “Only if you're sure”  
Allison smiled and rested her head on his shoulder for a moment, waiting in the parking lot for Scott and Isaac to show up so they could walk home  
  


Laura set down the letter, by the time it had made the rounds (She had even sat down with her dad that night and given it him to read, they had cried together for a few hours, but when they had finished, Allison had retrieved the photo of the three of them and placed it on the mantle where it belonged)  
“You took a very big step Allison, you should be proud of yourself” Allison smiled softly at the woman “So what's the next step for you?”  
 _“What would you suggest?”  
_ “Well,” Laura hesitated “Your... Whatever it is with Lydia is very important to you right? So telling her should be one of your next moves.” She shuffles forward on her seat “You've put a lot of trust into your circle of friends, they understand and recognise your fears and they aren't pushing you away” She tilts her head and smiles “I think you may actually speak to them one day”  
Allison's eyebrows shot up _“Really?”  
_ “Really” Laura nodded  
 _“I don't think I remember how”  
_ “We'll cross that bridge when we reach it okay?” Laura patted her knee “Baby steps, you did amazing this week Allison”  
 _“Thank you”  
_ “You're welcome!” Laura beamed “What are the plans for the rest of the week? The anniversary is on Sunday right?”  
Allison nodded _“It's the big game tomorrow, Lydia is coming around to hang out for a while and then we're walking to the game and Danny is going to give her a ride home”  
_ “And you? Do you have someone to take you home?”  
Allison nodded _“Scott and Isaac are gonna walk me”  
_ “What do you plan to do on Sunday?”  
Allison shrugged _“Be there for Dad I guess”  
_ “Let him be there for you as well Allison, your feelings matter too”  
  


Lydia was early, she double checked the address Allison had texted her and looked up at the house, it seemed too big for only two people, but that was none of her business, she knew Allison's father ran a weapons dealership and needed plenty of space for their stock. She wasn't too early, she had just underestimated how long it would take to walk to the house and hadn't wanted to risk being late  
She was also still wearing heels- a small heel, granted, but heels nonetheless.  
She knew Allison didn't like cars, and while Lydia was about eighty percent convinced it had something to do with the Jackson drinking incident, she hadn't pressed the issue  
She knew that Allison would talk about it when she was ready and she respected that. Lydia walked up the path and knocked three times, loud and sharp  
A man answered the door a few moments later and Lydia couldn't help but smirk, it was clear where Allison got her good looks from  
“Yes?” He asked  
“Hi, I'm Lydia, is Allison here?”  
“Oh, oh right, come in.” he stepped to the side to let Lydia in “You're both going to the game together right?”  
“That's right” Lydia nodded  
“Right” Chris looked up the stairs and Lydia rolled her eyes, she could hear music “Well, go on up, I’m sure she's expecting you”  
“Thank you” Lydia smiled kindly and made her way up the stairs, as she got closer she could make out the tell-tale voice of Ellie Goulding and follows the music to an open door only to see Allison moving around the room, not quite dancing but clearly letting the music effect her movements, she's typing away at her phone when she spins around and sees Lydia, almost launching her phone from her hand as she jumps  
Lydia laughs and holds both hands out “Sorry! Did I scare you?”  
Allison presses a button on her phone and throws it behind her on her bed, looking adorably annoyed as she presses a hand to her chest- so that's a yes then, Allison gestures for Lydia to step into her room as she moves to her computer to turn the music down  
Admittedly, the first thing Lydia noticed, was that the room seriously needed a makeover, Allison had mentioned that she was thinking about painting it, but she hadn't realised how much a paint job was needed  
The second thing she noticed was the occasional picture stuck to the walls. She knew that Allison liked to draw people, but this was her first experience with seeing the portraits  
Pictures of Scott and Isaac holding hands and being sickeningly sweet and perfect, Stiles grinning and holding a slice of pizza, Erica tackling Boyd, Scott and Stiles practising lacrosse together.  
Really, she shouldn't feel jealous that there isn't a picture of her  
She wonders if Allison has even drawn her  
Lydia realises that Allison is watching her carefully and smiles “Sorry I’m early, I didn't realise how short the walk here was”  
Allison grins and moves to her closet to pull out her leather jacket and slides it on, she walks past Lydia and Lydia is rewarded with a whiff of Allison's perfume, something sweet- honestly she hadn't expected anything less from the brunette, watches Allison shut down her computer and turn to Lydia expectantly, she reaches up and pats her head with a questioning look  
“That depends,” Lydia tilts her head “What kind of hats do you have?”  
Allison grins and moves around the room and if Lydia did a fist pump while her back was turned because she had totally interpreted what Allison was asking- well, nobody had to know  
Allison approached her with a purple beanie and Lydia took it from her hands  
“It matches your gloves” Lydia smiled, leaning up on the tips of her toes and pulling the hat onto Allison's head, adjusting her hair and pushing a loose curl behind her ears. Lydia forced herself to take a step backwards before she did something stupid and kiss the girl  
She still had to break up with Jackson  
And actually make sure that Allison one hundred percent liked her back  
Then kissing her would be totally find and amazing  
“There, you look gorgeous” Lydia smiled because just because she won't kiss Allison, it doesn’t mean she can't flirt (and totally tell the truth)  
Allison grinned and blushed slightly, she gestured to Lydia's own outfit and smiled wider  
“Thank you” Lydia beamed, she glanced at the clock on Allison's bedside “We've got ages till the game starts”  
Allison reaches for her phone and types out a message, _“We could head out anyway? It's a nice night”  
_ “I'm down with that” Lydia nods “Are you not taking your sketchbook  
Allison seems conflicted for a moment, obviously torn between carrying it around with her and Lydia can understand why, there's going to be a lot of people there tonight and between watching the game and everything else, writing by hand would be too time consuming, eventually Allison nods and grabs her book and a pencil and pen from her desk and shoving them into a bag, she gestures towards the door and Lydia beams, looping her arm through Allison's and leading them towards the stairs  
  
The walk was long, and it was honestly pretty cold out, but Allison was walking so close to her that their hands brush with every step and it would be easy, so easy to just grab that hand and never let go, they're just about to head up to the bleachers to get a good seat when someone calls both of their names, Lydia and Allison turn to see Scott jogging up to them  
“Hey Allison, Lydia” He beams at them both “You're both early, but that's good!” He focuses on Allison “I brought you something” And Lydia watches as he drops what looks like half a dozen packs of skittles into her arms and the smile that Allison has had on her face since they left the house only increased tenfold, she leans in to press a kiss to his cheek and manages to give him the thumbs up without dropping every packet  
“Good luck” Lydia smiles at him  
“Thanks guys, see you afterwards!” He laughs and runs back the way he came. Lydia turns to watch Allison stuff most of the skittles into her bag, holding onto one bag firmly and holding another out towards Lydia  
And she knows that Allison is protective of her skittles, the fact she's offering an _entire_ bag to Lydia is a pretty big deal in Lydia's eyes  
“Are you sure?”  
Allison just rolls her eyes and grabs Lydia's hand, pressing the bag into her palm with a grin. She doesn't let go of Lydia's hand as she leads her to the bleachers  
  
Allison can't help but feel a little guilty, she doesn't exactly make the best morale support when she can't cheer on her friends and her gloves muffle any clapping she does  
But honestly, she thinks Lydia is cheering enough for the both of them. She glances over to the girl beside her, wondering how someone so tiny can make so much noise  
It's kind of amazing to watch, the way Lydia's entire face lights up when someone on their team gets the ball or makes a particularity good dodge or shot  
The way she doesn't hesitate to voice her protest, yelling colourful insults down at the opposing team  
It's pretty scary  
But mostly it's just a spectacle in it's own right  
The way the spotlights seem to focus on Lydia, illuminating her and Allison wonders how anyone can really watch the game when they could be looking at Lydia

  
Lydia can't exactly pin point when she started caring so much about lacrosse, she thinks it's exposure, dating a lacrosse player and having Danny, who until Allison showed up was the closest person she had to a friend (even if he was Jackson's first), talk about it non-stop and then these conditions of relationships required Lydia to be at games with even _more_ lacrosse obsessed people and to put it simply, when they were winning, the atmosphere was electric  
The way the crowd would unite to cheer over a common goal, protest when one of their own went down in a hard tackle  
The energy when a goal was scored  
Lydia thinks she enjoys being a part of the crowd more than the actual game  
She loves how on this particular occasion, there seems to be more people than usual, means that there's less space on the bleachers, and she suspects that Allison gets a little anxious with large crowds, if the way she's ended up pressed up close against Lydia's side.  
When Scott passes the ball to Danny who launches the ball into the back of the net, the crowd _explodes_ and Lydia jumps so much and cheers so loud that when she turns to Allison, she doesn't really know what she's doing, Allison is clapping and grinning, dimples on full display and Lydia grabs her wrists, doesn't miss how Allison stops immediately, the way her eyes start on Lydia's lips and move up to meet her eyes and she was wrong  
 _This_  
This was electric  
Lydia really needed for this game to end **  
  
**

“It sucks that they lost” Lydia hummed, Allison pressed close against her side as the crowd began to disperse, it hadn't been a horrific loss at least, only two points had separated them and they had played exceptionally well “Not really the best first impression is it?” She nudges Allison's arm “First you almost shatter your wrist catching a stray ball and then we go ahead and lose”  
Allison shrugged as they reached the bottom of the bleachers, pulling out her phone as she leant against it  
 _“I still had fun”  
_ “Yeah” Lydia agreed “Me too”  
She watches Allison look around at the crowd for a few minutes, thinks back to the pictures along Allison's wall, more specifically the one of Scott and Stiles playing lacrosse together, Scott's bright smile and the way Stiles had his head thrown back and it looked like he was laughing, but honestly, she knew enough about Stiles Stilinski to bet that it was equally as likely that the boy was about to fall over.  
“Allison?”  
Allison turned to her, eyes bright and questioning  
“Have you ever drawn me?”  
She watches Allison's reaction carefully, the way her eyes widen slightly and for the briefest of moments, looks somewhat panicked, the way that expression shifts and a faint blush begins to make itself known across her cheeks as she ducks her head slightly embarrassed. Allison meets Lydia's eyes and nods  
“Why aren't any of them on your wall?”  
The seconds it takes for Allison to type out her response on her phone, and Lydia is trying not to think about the way it feels as though her entire universe is riding on the response to the question Lydia is really asking, the walls are covered in drawings of her friends, if Lydia isn't on there, then what does that make her?  
She's so lost in her thoughts that she doesn't actually register that Allison is holding her phone out towards Lydia, brown eyes searching her own and her bottom lip caught between her teeth, waiting patiently for Lydia to take the phone  
So she does  
She shoots Allison one last look before looking down at the phone, giving herself a moment to let her eyes adjust to the sudden brightness of the screen, realises she's probably being overly dramatic about the entire thing and reads the message there  
 _“Because no drawing I've ever done of you accurately shows how beautiful you really are”_  
Lydia stares at the message for what feels to her like a lifetime, commits the words to her memory. Lydia swallows thickly and looks back up to Allison, eyes studying her nervously, Lydia nods, more to herself than anything and takes a step closer to Allison, takes the brunettes hand and places the phone into her palm, allowing her hand to close over the top of it and she can't help herself  
She's wanted to do this since she saw Allison in her room today, she thinks she hears Allison's breath catch in her throat as Lydia tips her head up, making her intention clear and Allison blinks at her but she's leaning down to meet her and-  
“Lydia!”  
Allison, bless her, startles so hard she throws herself backwards, head smacking into the metal framing of the bleachers, the sound seems to echo across the field and Lydia turns to see Danny, staring at her expectantly, lacrosse stick slung over his shoulder, behind him she can see Jackson, clearly sulking and Lydia feels herself deflate, she pulls herself away from Allison  
“Sorry” She murmurs, for what, she isn't entirely sure but Allison looks like a deer caught in headlights and the way she's rubbing the back of her is an obvious sign that she was in pain, Allison offers a small smile but pockets her phone, making no clear intent to respond. Allison glances to where Danny is still waiting and Lydia follows her gaze, watches Jackson skulk away “I'll... See you soon, okay?” Lydia forced a smile and desperately tried not to react to the sadness in Allison's eyes, the way her shoulders drop so slightly, Allison responds with another nod and Lydia turns away from her then, walking over to where Danny is still waiting, when she looks over her shoulder, her eyes met with Allison's  
But the empty feeling in Lydia's chest was replaced with something new as realisation washed over her  
She had almost kissed Allison  
And Allison had almost kissed her back  
 **  
  
**

“I kinda want to punch Danny for getting in the way of what would have been your first kiss” Erica reached across the table to grab the bowl of popcorn “Damn I wish I had been there”  
“Because no drawing I've done of you accurately shows how beautiful you really are” Stiles repeats, “Shit, you don't even realise how _smooth_ that was do you?” He looks up at Allison from where he's lying on the ground  
Allison grins and bats away Isaac's hand as he prods at the bump on the back of her head  
“Honestly, it was a miracle you was even standing after hitting your head like that” He laughs  
“Isaac” Scott sighs “Leave her head alone”  
Isaac looks ready to protest when Stiles hits play, starting the next episode, cutting them all off, Allison shoots him a thankful smile and pulls her hoodie tighter around herself  
She and Lydia had spoken, of course they had, they seldom stopped texting.  
But they hadn't mentioned their moment after the game, Lydia hadn't brought it up and Allison didn't question it, sometimes she still forgot that Lydia had a boyfriend  
But when she had gotten home, she had walked straight past her dad, grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and gone to bed  
She spent half the night just lying on the bed, ice pack now left to melt on the bedside table, phone resting on her chest waiting for Lydia to get in touchy-feely

 

  
On Sunday Allison wakes up to a heavy feeling in her heart and a silence in the air that almost feels deafening  
She doesn't know why she does it, but once she's up and ready, she searches the house, digs through boxes that neither her or her dad have had time to unpack yet  
She finds him in the kitchen, sipping half-heartedly at his coffee and he meets Allison's steady gaze with slightly watery eyes, eyebrows furrowing when she sets the bow down on the counter  
“You want to?” He asks and Allison nods sharply  
  
After four years, Allison would have thought it would be hard to get back into it.  
Turns out, archery is a lot like riding a bike  
You never really forget  
It brings back memories she hasn't allowed herself to think about for the last four years, happy and sad but oh so real  
She smiles as her dad tells her stories of how he first met her mother, their first date and their wedding day  
She listens to him talk and they shoot arrows until her fingers are numb  
She comes home to comforting messages from her friends and when Allison climbs into bed that night, she feels lighter  
Happier **  
**

 

**  
**“What do you mean we're still broken up?!” Jackson frowned  
Lydia sighed into her locker and pulled out her textbook for her next class “I mean, I broke up with you, permanently, how can you not comprehend this?”  
Jackson looks seriously confused and at any other time, Lydia would laugh, but right now she was just growing increasingly annoyed  
“Why?”  
“You're stunning personality for a start”  
“You never complained before”  
“Things change Jackson”  
Jackson hums, folds his arms across his chest “It's that girl isn't it?”  
“That really has nothing to do with you Jackson” Lydia turns to walk away from him, he reaches out to grab her arm and it takes all of her control not to hit him in the face with her book  
“It does if you're dumping me for her, she can't even talk”  
“Yet I still have more meaningful conversations with her, funny” Lydia pulls herself from his grasp “I'll see you around Jackson” she smiles sweetly, turning on her heel once more and walking towards her first class, honestly, she was explicitly clear on Saturday that they were breaking up, how he hadn't caught on was a mystery  
It didn't matter any more, they weren't together  


“Okay so Jackson is being very glare-y” Stiles muttered  
“That isn't a word” Erica replied  
“But the point still stands”  
“I hear it's because Lydia broke up with him” Isaac remarked casually and Allison slapped a hand over her mouth to avoid a repeat of what happened last time she was caught off guard while drinking  
“She broke up with him?!” Erica span to face Isaac “Why are you only mentioning this now?”  
Isaac shrugged  
“Seriously dude” Stiles leant over and flicked him in the forehead “This is big news!” He turned to Allison and clasped her hands in his “This is your time Alli A, you can get the girl!”  
Allison pulled her hands away with a smile and turned back to her lunch, frowning suddenly  
“Wait, what is it?”  
Allison scrambled for her phone _“I have a dentist appointment, I’m leaving after this”  
_ “So what?” Erica frowned “Just text her when you get home”  
“I don't know” Scott rests his chin on his hand “I think it should be face to face”  
Allison nodded in agreement  
“Jesus, just go and kiss her and be done with it” Erica rolled her eyes  
“You're so impatient Erica” Boyd replied  
“Because they've been in this weird flirtationship since they met!” Erica defended “They have eye sex whenever they're in the same room and last time they were within five feet of each other Allison nearly knocked herself out!”  
Allison gapes at Erica  
“It's true” Erica smirks  
Allison rolls her eyes, she knows it's true but still, rude.  
“Look,” Erica levelled a gaze at Allison “You either kiss her tomorrow or I’ll lock you in a supply closet”  
“How is that going to help?” Isaac frowned  
“Lydia will also be in the closet and then they will kiss, case solved”  
“That is the stupidest idea ever” Boyd replied  
“Well, If Argent gets her shit together and just kisses the girl, I won't have to do that will I?!”  
“Jesus Erica” Stiles sighs, but he's grinning at Allison and she can't help but return it tenfold

  
  
“Allison!” Stiles runs up to her, Scott and Isaac as they approach the school “Something happened”  
Panic fills her immediately, feels the colour drain from her skin and her palms begin to sweat  
“What happened?” Scott asks, shooting Allison a cautious look  
“Jackson” Stiles spits “Jackson happened” Scott is already curling an arm protectively around Allison's shoulders and Stiles is moving to her other side to grab her hand  
“What did he do?” Isaac asked warily  
“He knows about the accident, I- I don't know how, but he does and he's told everyone” Stiles frowns “But it's worse than that” he squeezes Allison's hand “He's twisted the story, told them that _you_ were the one who was driving” He pauses and Allison knows the words that are about to leave his mouth “He said you were the one who was drunk” And with those words Allison feels her chest ache  
Scott asks the question that registers in Allison's mind as they walk up towards the main doors “Is Lydia here?”  
Stiles nods solemnly “Yeah”  
Allison is really thankful that Stiles is holding her hand  
Erica and Boyd practically appear out of nowhere as they walk into the building and by now, Allison should really be used to the stares, but being stared at for being the new girl or the girl who wouldn't speak was one thing  
Being seen as a girl who got her mother killed was something else entirely  
“Come on” Erica muttered “These ass holes aren't worth it”  


Allison manages to make it through her first class easy enough, shielded from view by Scott and Stiles who glared at anybody who so much as turn in their direction  
But Lydia hadn't sent her a message yet, it was inevitable that she would find out what had happened and Allison feels her stomach twist with guilt  
She should have told Lydia sooner  
Now the girl was no doubt under the impression that Allison had killed her mother  
And it wasn't the rest of the schools reaction that scared her, no, she had her friends and they knew the truth  
But Lydia didn't know that and next to her father and her friends and even Laura, Lydia was so important to her and what would Lydia think of her and does Lydia believe Jackson?  
But there was another question in the back of her mind that was plaguing her, she wrote it down on the corner of her page before tearing it off and tossing it onto Stiles' desk  
 _“How did Jackson find out?”  
_ “Well,” Stiles frowned “His Dad is a lawyer right? So I’m gonna put my money on him”  
Allison frowned  
“I know” Stiles agreed “I think it's totally acceptable if you wanted to punch him”  
“I agree” Scott says “And normally I’m against the whole violence thing”  
“We could totally all team up on him” Stiles mutters  
Allison shrugged, it's not like violence has done her good in the past  


“I am going to cut a bitch if they keep staring” Erica hissed  
“Easy Erica” Boyd replied, ever the voice of reason. Allison let them lead her through the hall as she checked her phone and sent another message to Lydia  
“Allison?” Stiles asked “You good?”  
Allison shook her head and held up her phone  
“Maybe she doesn't have it with her today?” he suggested, though his tone betrayed him as he clearly didn't believe his own words “Hey, it'll be all right” He smiled, rubbing a hand along her shoulders  
“This is pathetic even for you Jackson” They heard Lydia yell as they rounded a corner  
“What are you talking about?” Jackson smiled, smug as ever  
“We should leave” Scott suggested, Allison held up a hand and silenced him  
“Spreading a rumour about Allison just because you're jealous”  
Jackson scoffed “Jealous? Yeah, you wish, what am I jealous about? Her friends? The fact that she can't talk?”  
“Jackson, how many friends do you have, really? Danny, he's the only one” Allison watches Lydia lean in close and judging by the expression that makes itself known on Jackson's face, whatever she says really hits it's mark, he looks up then, catches Allison's eye and that smirk is back and Allison feels herself getting ready to punch it off  
“Allison!” He grins, Lydia spins around, clearly looking shocked at her presence “I was just telling Lydia about what you did!”  
“Wait” Stiles muttered, he turns to Allison “You were what? Twelve when the accident happened?”  
Allison nodded  
“Lydia!” Stiles steps forward “You don't believe what this ass hole is saying right?”  
“Of course not!”  
“Thank god” Stiles groans, he turns to Allison “That's good news right?”  
“Kinda worrying If the rest of the school believes it though”  
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Jackson snaps  
“Allison” Erica pulls on her jacket, forcing her attention on the blonde “Free reign to talk about the accident?”  
Allison gestures for her to go ahead, Erica smirks and moves past her  
“Speaking on behalf of Allison” Erica says loud enough for any passing students to stop and listen “Jackson is a fucking idiot. Allison was twelve when she was in a car crash” She pins Jackson with a glare “So for all of who don't have two braincells to rub together, that means she most definitely wasn't driving and it's pretty safe to say she wasn't drunk unlike this ass hole who was more than happy to get behind the wheel of his fucking porsche with more alcohol in his blood stream than actual blood” The last comment earns a few sniggers from the crowd and Allison can't help but notice how pleased with herself Erica looks, honestly she can't blame her. She looks over to Jackson, sees the humiliation and rage their  
“Honestly Jackson” Stiles smirks “You should really stop causing such scenes in the middle of the hallway If you don't want to be publicly humiliated” Allison has to high five Stiles for that, she's about seventy percent sure can read her mind  
“Fuck you” Jackson spits “You freaks”  
“Oh go to a library and brush up on your ignorance” Scott snaps, earning a surprised laugh from Isaac  
Lydia moves to step past him “If I was your parents, I’d find out if it's too late you take you back to the orphanage where you belong”  
Allison winces at that because, damn, low blow- but he deserves it, so Allison can't really bring herself to care  
Especially the way Lydia is walking towards her and is smiling  
But then Jackson is following her and Allison is literally ready to fly forwards, fists clenched when Boyd shocks literally everyone by getting their first, fist colliding with the side of Jackson's face and the boy just _drops_  
It's the second most beautiful thing Allison has ever seen (Lydia is number one because of course she is) **  
**What makes the entire moment all the more glorious is the way the entire hallway falls silent except for Erica, who thinks this is quite possibly the funniest thing to ever happen and is laughing so hard she's doubled over  
“What?” Boyd asks when he notices the confused looks of his friends “He was being an ass hole”  
“I hear that” Lydia agrees, she stops short of Allison “Sorry he did that” She glances around at the crowd “I'm pretty sure that little display will get around quick enough and your name will be clear”  
Allison raised an eyebrow and smirked  
“What?” Lydia laughed, Allison held her phone up and Lydia made a sound of realisation in her throat “I didn't charge it up last night, it died when I went to text you when I got to school this morning” She says, sounding apologetic  
“Told you so” Stiles mutters from behind her “Can we go get lunch now?”  
“Lunch sounds good” Boyd agreed, glancing at where Jackson was still lying “Do we just leave him there or what?”  
“He'll be fine” Lydia waved a hand  
“So lunch?” Isaac smirked  
Allison nodded her agreement with the rest of the group and looked expectantly at Lydia  
“You want me to join you?” Lydia asked, her smile growing slightly  
Allison bit her lip and nodded  
“Well then,” Lydia looped her arm through Allison's “Let's not waste any time”  
Allison can't help but grin

 

“You know” Lydia leans across their table in the library, giving Allison a pretty good view down her blouse and holy crap, Allison averts her gaze with a blush, focussing on Lydia's face. Lydia only seems to smirk, like she knows exactly what she's doing “You still haven't told me what those flowers on that note mean”  
This time it's Allison's turn to smirk  
“You really aren't going to tell me?” Lydia asked, Allison shook her head “You do know Danny's mother own a florist, I could just ask her, she'd tell me you know”  
Allison does know, and she made a point of visiting the woman and making sure she did no such thing  
“Why so secretive about the whole thing Allison? Just tell me”  
Allison grinned even more, Lydia hated not knowing and the fact that she held that kind of power of Lydia was incredibly satisfying  
“Okay, new question, what are we doing for your birthday?” Allison's stomach leapt at that _'we'_  
It had been a week since the Jackson incident and while she and Lydia had practically become inseparable in this time, neither had brought up the events of the lacrosse game  
Allison couldn't help but worry if Lydia had lost interest in her like that, had decided that they would be better as friends instead  
It was worrying  
But Allison wasn't really complaining, she still got to hear Lydia's voice constantly and they had a sleep over last Friday and for the first time she didn't have a nightmare and when she woke up, Lydia was curled around her and Allison thinks that she looks even more beautiful when she's asleep, face clean of make-up  
They went ice skating together and dragged along Stiles and Isaac and the rest of the group and it was clumsy and hilarious and _glorious_  
The way Lydia had grabbed Allison's gloved hand when she stumbled and they hadn't let go of one another for the rest of the time on the rink  
She had even pulled Lydia into their Saturday netflix marathon and Allison was thankful at how easily Lydia had made herself a part of their group, how it felt like she had always belonged there  
How that night, when she was finishing up on some homework at the dinner table, her dad had walked past and pressed a kiss to the top of her head  
“This is the happiest I’ve seen you in a long time” had been all he had said  
“Allison?” Lydia tilted her head and waved a hand in front of her face “You still there?”  
Allison grinned and batted her hand away  
“Seriously, birthday, what do you want to do?”  
Allison shrugged, honestly she hadn't planned to do anything  
“That's not acceptable”  
 _“Lydia, please, I just want it to be quiet”  
_ Lydia smiled and leant even further forward on the desk “Then cut class, spend the day with me”  
Allison agreed immediately  
Honestly, she was so whipped **  
**

 

“I swear to god Allison, If you and Lydia don't kiss on your birthday date, I will make good on my promise and lock you in a closet”  
“Maybe ease up on the threats Erica?” Stiles suggested he turns to Allison “Honestly though, if we're going to miss your birthday because of this date, you should probably kiss her”  
Allison rolled her eyes and grabbed her phone _“It's not a date!”  
_ “Sure it's not” Scott smirked, handing her a neatly wrapped package, they had decided to celebrate Allison's birthday the day before (“Seeing as you're being kidnapped we may as well throw a party for you first” Erica had protested) Allison tore the paper off and wasn't at all surprised to find what was essentially a months supply of skittles. She grinned and pulled Scott into a hug  
“So Boyd, you also come back to school on Monday, excited?” Isaac asked, Boyd merely responded with a raised eyebrow  
“I still can't believe you knocked him out and only got a weeks suspension” Stiles muttered  
“Well,” Boyd shrugged “If you're going to get in trouble for hitting someone, you may as well go all out and hit them hard”  
Allison laughed and froze immediately, as did the rest of the group  
It was like somebody had pressed pause on them. Everybody was staring at her with wide eyes, popcorn falling from Erica's mouth, Boyd, Scott and Isaac all staring at her like she had grown a third head and Stiles blinked at her several times  
“Did you just-”  
“Allison-”  
“Holy shit-”  
“YOU LAUGHED” Stiles grabbed her face in his hands “Allison, you laughed!”  
“Do it again” Isaac urged  
“Scott are you crying?” Allison heard Erica mutter  
“Erica, shut up” Scott sniffed  
“Holy shit” Stiles wrapped Allison into a hug “You laughed”  
Allison wrapped her own arms around him and laughed again it was a foreign sound but she liked it, she really fucking liked it and Stiles was hugging her and Allison couldn't stop laughing. She felt more arms wrap around her, heard Scott's sniffles next to her so she knew that he totally was crying and then Erica's laughter joined her own followed by Stiles and Isaac's and Boyd and finally Scott's watery laugh as he tried to stop crying because this is the first time they've heard actual _sound_ from Allison since they've met her

And they've only known her for a month  
And Allison can't help but marvel at the fact that she has made more progress in two months than she has in the last three years and she knows that it's because of the people surrounding her  
And she's so fucking happy  
So glad that she found them and that they welcomed her with open arms

  
  
  
It had been the best birthday Allison had had in a long time  
Allison hadn't been entirely sure what Lydia had planned for them both, but when she met the redhead at the coffee shop and saw that she was wearing flats, she had known immediately that there was going to be walking involved  
And god, she wasn't wrong  
Thank god for her boots  
After a long hug (which Allison wasn't ashamed to admit she lingered into and enjoyed the fruity smell of Lydia's hair) Lydia had promptly brought them both caffeine and dragged her to the mall, followed wherever Lydia went, they tried on dresses and ate doughnuts together and Lydia insisted they take stupid photo booth pictures together  
“It's tradition!” Lydia had laughed, dragging Allison towards it, tradition for what, Allison didn't know. But it didn't matter, Allison let Lydia drag her in and they pulled stupid faces and afterwards, when Lydia was in the bathroom, Allison couldn't stop staring at the bottom picture, at the surprise on her face when Lydia had pressed a kiss to her cheek  
Allison gave herself a pat on the back for not forgetting how to breathe  
They had stopped off at Lydia's house to drop off all of their bags then, Allison took advantage of the break to check in with her dad and the rest of her group before Lydia had promptly grabbed her hand and dragged her from the house again  
“We're going for a picnic” she had said  
And that had been how Allison had found herself leaning against Lydia, settled on top of the blanket Lydia had brought eating red velvet cupcakes and skittles  
  
Lydia had spent more time than necessary trying to explain the health complications the behind eating cake and candy  
“Honestly Allison, I made sandwiches and everything”  
But then Allison had given her the puppy dog eyes and Lydia wanted to buy her all of the skittles in the world. Just, all of the skittles  
She liked seeing Allison smile, she liked even more that today she had been the one to make Allison smile like that  
It made her heart get caught in her throat and now she just really wanted to get Allison back home so she could give her her birthday present

She wanted to see the girls face when she opened it

 

“My feet are _killing_ me” Lydia whined as they stepped into the house, Allison span to face her, guilt bubbling up inside her as she watched Lydia kick her shoes off, Lydia must have caught her because she quickly held her hands up “It's not your fault, don't look guilty, please”  
Allison glanced away, unsure  
“Hey” Lydia grabbed Allison's hand and squeezed it gently “Don't look guilty, come on, smile”  
But Allison did feel guilty, not only had she made Lydia walk for, lets face it, _miles_ but she hadn't even laughed  
She didn't understand, less than twenty four hours ago she had laughed until she had cried while her friends had held her and now, here she was with Lydia, the girl she was hopelessly in love with  
And she hadn't made a sound  
It was hard not to feel guilty  
“Hey” Lydia nudged her again “Pizza and a movie?” She suggested “Then I want to give you your present”  
Allison smiled, genuine this time and nodded  
  
They settled on the notebook, Lydia suspected that Allison had only agreed because of whatever guilt she was still feeling over Lydia complaining about sore feet, but whatever, she took it.  
When the credits began to roll she glanced over to Allison and chuckled softly at the girl lying on top of the covers of her bed  
It should be illegal for someone to be that attractive when they're asleep, it's conflicting, Lydia wants to curl up against her and just sleep, wants to poke her awake just so she can look at her eyes again  
She realises that she's never heard Allison speak, never heard her make a sound  
She wonders what it would sound like, she imagines something light and undeniably sexy  
But none of that matters because she loves Allison Argent regardless of that  
She had seen the worry in the girls eyes when they had seen each other in the hallway on the day of the Jackson incident, had seen the apprehension when Allison wrote the true events and handed her the letter  
The relief when Lydia had pulled her in for a hug  
“Allison” Lydia says quietly, watching as Allison's eyes slowly opened, arching her back as she stretched before sitting up and looked to her in question, tilting her head slightly. Lydia adjusted her seating on the bed, moving so she was directly opposite Allison. Allison blinked, her expression becoming increasingly confused and slightly worried as the silence stretched on and Lydia couldn't find the words and just decided- fuck it, she's been dancing around this for weeks, been wanting to do this since the day she saw the girl in the cafeteria. Lydia leans forward, gently cupping Allison's chin with her right hand and pressing their lips together  
She breaks away and moves her head away, letting her hand drop away from Allison. Allison's eyes flutter open slowly and for the first time, Lydia can't gauge what the girl is feeling.  
“I- I’m sorry” Lydia begins, feeling panic wash begin to wash over her, because Allison is just staring at her and Lydia can't quite make out the expression on her face or the look in her eyes, but before she can say anything else, Allison's hands are on either side of her face, lips crashing against hers and Lydia has to grab onto Allison's jacket to steady herself and she can feel Allison smiling against her lips and then she _laughs_ and it sounds like pure joy- and then Lydia realises what just happened and she pulls away, shocked  
“Did you just-” Lydia winces at how her words fail her but Allison just grins wider and nods “How long?”  
Allison moves away from Lydia and holds up a finger, after a few more gestures and some signing, Lydia pretty much figures out that Allison had laughed while she was with Stiles and the rest of her friends and Lydia isn't jealous, honestly, because Allison has been friends with them for longer, and the fact remains that she had just heard Allison laugh and it was only the second time she had made a sound in four years and Lydia had been lucky enough to hear it and she isn't quite sure what to say, so she settles for getting her fingers tangled in Allison's hair and bringing their lips together in another kiss  
A kiss that they don't break for much longer, they kiss slowly, exploratory, tracing each others mouths with their tongues and Lydia is happy, _so_ happy and it makes her wonder why she waited so long to do this, they should have been doing this sooner  
Lydia makes a silent promise to make up for lost time  
She breaks away eventually, chest heaving but grinning at Allison's dazed expression, laughs as she kisses those lips again because they're right there and Allison isn't complaining  
“Do you want your present now?”  
She doesn't give Allison a chance to respond, leaves the girl on her bed and disappears to retrieve her gift from her closet and Allison is still lying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling like she can't quite believe what just happened and then she catches Lydia's eye and grins, sitting up as Lydia sits down in front of her, setting the package down between them and yeah, it's bigger than Lydia had intended when she had ordered it, but it was perfect and she knew Allison had to have it  
Allison looks up at her curiously and Lydia just laughs  
“Open it”

  
Allison tears into the paper, pulling it off of the gift completely until she's staring at a solid oak box. Allison studies it for a moment before looking up at Lydia, who merely raises an eyebrow, a silent _'what are you waiting for?'_  
Allison opens the catch and feels her jaw drop as she lifts the lid  
It was an artist set  
It had literally everything she could ever need, watercolour paints, acrylic, oil, pastels, pencils, brushes and everything else (including some things she wasn't even entirely sure she knew what they did)  
“Do you like it?” Lydia asked a smile tugging at her lips  
And there was so much Allison wanted to say, but she didn't want to spoil the moment by reaching for her phone to type out a message, instead, she pushed the box to one side and shuffled along the bed until she could wrap her arms around Lydia's shoulders and hold her tight  
When she pulled away she signed her thanks and Lydia _beamed_  
“Allison?”  
Allison tilted her head and watched Lydia pick at a loose thread in her blanket, looking extremely nervous all of a sudden “Will you be my girlfriend?”  
Allison grinned and nodded, leaning across to pull Lydia against her for another kiss  
Girlfriend, she thinks, she'll never get tired of hearing that  
  


When they show up hand in hand at Scott's place the next day for their weekly Buffy marathon, Erica cheers, honest to god _cheers_  
Allison doesn't know whether to punch her or hug her  
She settles for laughing and ducking her head into Lydia's neck

  
Heads turn when they walk down the hallway hand in hand but Lydia holds her head up high, she's used to being looked at  
And if she's being honest, so is Allison, if not for entirely different reasons  
Danny had smiled and actually high fived her when news got out  
Jackson had glared (from a distance) he was still sporting an impressive bruise on the left side of his face and clearly had no intention of repeating _that_ incident  
She noticed that Allison didn't laugh at school, Allison had explained in very long message one evening that her therapist had said it was because she still didn't trust people enough, she only felt comfortable around Lydia and their friends (it was safe to say that Lydia had become incredibly close with Allison's friends) but that over time it should get easier- Allison had then gone on to say that Laura had been impressed at how quickly Allison was improving and placed the cause of the progress on Lydia and the rest of the group  
The fact that she was helping Allison meant so much to Lydia, words couldn't quite describe the feeling it left her  
As far as Lydia knew, Allison's father, much like her own parents, remained unaware of their relationship, not that she was complaining, sleepovers were so much more fun with Allison pinned underneath her, Lydia sucking careful bruises into Allison's collarbone, somewhere where Allison could easily cover them up, Allison's was wandering hands sliding up under Lydia's shirt, nails scraping lightly against her skin, holding tighter when Lydia bites at her lips, drinking in the breathy little sounds, and it's a triumph, to know that she can make Allison make  _sound  
_ She makes Allison laugh at every opportunity  
God, she loves Allison's laugh  
It's a sound she knows she'll never get sick of hearing Allison's laugh  
The borderline hysterical laughter when Lydia pins her to her bedroom door and slides her hands up Allison's shirt, tickling her until until tears stream down Allison's face and she tackles Lydia down onto the bed and and pays her back in kind  
The warm laughter when they're with their friends and Stiles makes a terrible joke or Erica throws a perfectly constructed insult and Allison has to duck her head into Lydia's shoulder  
The quiet giggle when Lydia's mother walks in while they're making out on the sofa, breaking away when they hear the door open and sharing glances as her mother walks past, straight into the kitchen to get caffeinated and Lydia would reach over and wipe away a smudge of lipstick from the corner of Allison's mouth with her thumb and Allison would giggle and lean into the touch  
Lydia would grab her hand and tug her up the stairs before her mother could come out of the kitchen  
Lydia dealt in facts, and it was a fact that she was head over heels in love with Allison and would have no trouble picturing a future with her, discovering new ways to hear that laughter

 

 

"Allison?" Lydia speaks and oh, she thought she was asleep, Allison squeezes Lydia's hand, her way of telling the younger girl that she was listening, that she was awake, barely. Allison used her free hand to rub the sleep from her eyes "have you laughed around your dad yet?" She asked quietly, Allison rolled onto her side, Lydia mimicking her action so they were lying face to face, Allison shook her head with a small frown, it wasn't through lack of trying, she could feel the laughter there, Lydia had stayed for dinner the day before and had told her father in detail about how Allison and Erica had seriously misjudged the measurements for their experiment, and needless to say it had gone horrifically wrong and she had felt it, she wanted to laugh but when she opened her mouth, no words had come out

Allison blew a breath out of her lips and sat up, Lydia making a sound of protest beside her but sitting up anyway, Allison felt her eyes on her as she retrieved her notebook from her bag by Lydia's door  
She sat down beside Lydia, tangling their legs together and began to write.  
She explained that the reason she feels she hasn't been responding to her father the same way she has to Lydia or their friends is because, unlike them, he knew Allison before the accident, knew her mother, knew how _different_ things were  
She wrote in detail how she still feels guilty, that maybe if she hadn't been arguing with her mother that night, maybe things would have been different, how she feels guilty because she survived, completely free of physical injuries, save for a scar that was now completely hidden by her hair from where she had hit her head off of the frame of the car when the impact had happened  
How she had walked away while her mom had to be cut out and wheeled away and she had completely shut down leaving her father to do deal with it all alone  
She watched carefully as Lydia read over what had been written, tense moments passing as she watched Lydia's eyes move over the page, finally, _finally,_ Lydia looked back up to Allison, setting the page down as she did so. She reaches over the small distance between them and cupping Allison's face  
“Allison, you know it wasn't your fault, you can't blame yourself for that drivers actions, and yeah, your father lost his wife that day” Lydia shifts onto her knees and her other hand finds it's way to Allison's face “But he got to keep his twelve year old daughter, you survived and if there is a God, he probably sends his thanks every day that you survived” Lydia brushed their lips together in a chase kiss “I know I do” she adds quietly

 

“Have you brought Lydia here yet?” Stiles asked, pulling the door open and letting Allison through, Allison shook her head as she made her way to the waiting room  
“Have you brought anyone who isn't me?” Allison nodded and made the sign for 'dad'  
After her talk with Lydia a few days prior, Allison had sent Laura a message, asking to be the mediator between herself and her dad  
It had been an intense hour, Allison had been so nervous when she walked into the room and saw her dad already sat there, waiting  
Laura had been amazing, as usual and they had ended up running slightly over the usual hour limit as her father had hugged her and cried, apologising for ever making Allison feel as though the accident was her fault and reassured her that he had never thought it and that he was just so relieved that she was alive  
It had been an emotionally draining day  
“Allison!” Laura stepped out of the office “Stiles” She nodded at the boy  
“Ms. Hale” Stiles greeted  
“Laura, please” Laura rolled her eyes “You'll make me feel old”  
Allison pushed herself to her feet and shot a questioning look at Stiles  
“Oh I’m good,” He pulled out his DS “I'm totally going to beat this Gym Leader while you're gone”  
Allison grinned and rolled her eyes, following Laura into the room  
Laura handed Allison her sketchbook  
“You know” Laura smirked “Every time I see you, you look even happier”  
Allison beamed in response  
“Things are going well with Lydia then?”  
Allison nodded as she turned to a clean page  
“Have you told your father yet?” Allison shook her head “Why not?”  
 _“Don't want the sleepovers to stop”  
_ Laura laughed and levelled a look at Allison “I feel that it's in my authority to remind you that both you and Lydia are actually under-age and therefore it's not legal right?”  
Allison felt herself blush _“We haven't had sex yet”  
_ “Why not?”  
Allison' brow furrowed together _“You just told me it was illegal!”  
_ “Well, that isn't the reason though is it?”  
 _“I'm just not ready yet”  
_ “And Lydia isn't pushing you?”  
Allison felt her jaw drop, she shook her head fiercely, Lydia had made it very clear from the start that they would only go as far as Allison felt comfortable  
“And Jackson? Is he causing any more problems?”  
Allison wanted to laugh at that, the only time Jackson even dares to go near any of the is during practice, and even then, Scott mentioned how he tackles them a lot less now, Allison didn't know where he went during lunch any more, especially since Danny (much to Stiles' delight) had started to join them at lunch and because he had the most knowledge of sign language and because he was incredibly patient, had started to teach the group everything he knew  
They carried on this way for a while, Laura asking for updates on Allison's life and she was only too happy to respond  
As the session began to draw to an end, Laura closed her notes and set them to one side  
“Allison, how would you feel if I dropped you to one session a week? I think you've settled in enough now, you're progress is astounding and I am honestly incredibly proud of you”  
Allison felt herself smile at that  
“I have faith that if you keep going the way, you might be saying the occasional word to your friends by Christmas”  
Allison's head snapped up at that _“Really?”  
_ “Really” Laura nodded “Believe and you shall achieve” she glanced at the clock “Did you have any questions for me?”  
Allison thought to herself carefully for a few minutes before nodding  
 _“How do you tell someone that you love them?”  
  
_ Allison left the office five minutes later, waving goodbye to Laura and frowning at a pouting Stiles  
“Fuck pokemon man” he huffed “How was it?” He asked, waving at Laura  
Allison tilted her head back at him and grinned, pulling out her phone and typing out a message  
A moment later, Stiles' phone pinged  
“Did you just text me?”  
Allison nodded and Stiles pulled out his phone  
“Happy love songs needed, suggestions?” Stiles repeated “Why do you need happy love songs?”  
Allison rolled her eyes

 

 

When Lydia opened her locker on Thursday morning, she wasn't surprised to find a gift in there, just because she and Allison were dating now clearly didn't deter the brunette from hiding gifts in her locker  
Today, it was a small square case and as she picked it up she realised abruptly that it was a CD case. The front cover was hand drawn bouquet, almost a perfect replica of the one Allison had drawn on the thank you note all that time ago, turning the case over she found a hand-written track list, studying the list, she found that she knew most of the songs, laughing when she saw a few that were clear favourites of Allison's (Check yes Juliet and Us to name a few)  
“Hey Lydia” Danny greeted, stopping a few paces from her “What's that?”  
“Allison made me a mix CD”  
“Romantic” Danny laughed  
“Danny?”  
“Hm”  
Lydia held the CD out to him “Do you know what these flowers mean?”  
“Sorry Lyd's, no can do”  
“What?” Lydia frowned “Why not?”  
“Because Allison threatened to go all ninja on me If I told you”  
“Of course she did” Lydia rolled her eyes, placing the CD in her bag, determined to listen to it on the ride home, she turned back to her locker “I don't like not knowing things Danny, she had better tell me soon” Danny gave a distracted hum and Lydia didn't startle (much) when a pair of hands closed over her eyes, a par of lips pressing themselves against the spot under her ear, she could feel Allison's smile against her skin  
“Good morning to you too” Lydia turned and wrapped her arms around Allison's shoulders, pulling Allison close against her “Thank you for the mix CD” she leant up to capture Allison's lips with her own, beside her, Danny cleared his throat  
“I'll see you ladies later then” he muttered and Lydia was vaguely aware of Allison waving a hand at him  
“Are you going to tell me what the flowers mean yet?”  
Allison grinned, dimples and all and shook her head  
“You're mean” Lydia replied with a pout, but she kissed Allison again regardless  


“I'll be dammed if you think I’m going to do all this work while you sit there and draw Argent” Erica muttered, scribbling a few numbers into her work, she glanced over to Allison “What're you doing anyway?”  
Allison glanced up at her through her hair and back down at her sketchbook, she looks back over to Lydia and back down to her work, she draws a few more lines and gives a final look at Lydia who must feel Allison's eyes on her because she turns then and smiles and Allison grins back  
“You're both sickening” Erica mutters, but there's something fond in her tone that lets Allison know that she's completely joking “What're you doing?” She asks again, Allison presses a finger to her lips and slides the sketchbook over to Erica. Erica frowns at hit for a moment before picking it up and flicking through each page, spending a few moments studying each one  
“They're amazing” She tells her when she hands it back “But please tell me you were together when you started it? Because if not, I’m pretty sure that's a form of stalking and-”  
Allison cuts her off by slapping her on the arm and glaring at her  
“I'm just saying!” Erica defends  
Allison rolls her eyes, her friends were assholes sometimes  
But she loves them all with all her heart  


  
“Hey” Lydia tangles her fingers with Allison's and reaches up to press a kiss to the corner of her mouth, as she pulls away Allison moves in for a proper kiss, using her free hand to hold Lydia against her  
“Public space ladies” Stiles calls  
“Dammit Stiles” Lydia muttered, breaking away reluctantly, she looks up to Allison, sees the laughter in her eyes “We're still going to the game tonight right?”  
Allison grinned and nodded, leaning in for another kiss (Lydia was never going to complain about how Allison chose to communicate with her now, turns out a kiss can speak a thousand words) “Awesome” Lydia kissed Allison again, because that's a thing she can do now and she has no intention of stopping “I'll come by early? We can order pizza or something?”  
Allison beamed, she glanced around the hallway and tugged on Lydia's hand, leading her to an empty classroom  
“Are you suggesting we make out on a desk until class starts?”  
Allison's eyes gleaming with excitement and mischief as she walks herself backwards so she's sat on the desk and pulling Lydia closer. Lydia threads her hands through Allison's hair, enjoying the fact that with Allison sat down, she's the taller one for a change  
“I'll take that as a yes” She whispers against Allison's lips before drawing her tongue along Allison's bottom lip, grinning at the way the brunette shivers  
They both end up being late to class, but it's worth it

 

“Hey Lydia” Chris greeted with a smile  
“Mr Argent” She smiled back, she could already hear the music coming from Allison's room, recognised it as 'something's got a hold on me'- one of the songs on the mix CD that Allison had gave her (and that Lydia had been playing on repeat since then) she took note of Chris sliding on his jacket “Going out?” She asked  
“Yeah” Chris smiled “Some old friends are in town, so I’m meeting them for a boys night out”  
“Have fun” Lydia replied  
“You too,” Chris nodded, he gestured upstairs “You know where to find her”

Lydia laughed and waved Chris out before following the familiar path to Allison's room, humming to the music and coming to a stop at Allison's door  
At this point she wasn't even surprised to see Allison dancing around the room, it was a sight she never got sick of seeing- especially because of how rare it was to see Allison let her guard down enough to dance like a dork, spinning around to the beat and just generally dancing without a care in the world  
She really doesn't want to interrupt it  
But she also wants to kiss her girlfriend  
“Having fun?” she calls and she knows from experience how badly Allison startles, so she really should have approached it in a different way, instead, she's forced to watch Allison half leap, half trip and fall, completely blocked from Lydia's view by the bed, with a laugh, Lydia walked around to Allison's computer, turned the music down slightly and walked to where Allison was still lying “Sorry,” Lydia hold out a hand “I didn't mean to scare you” Allison raised an eyebrow that she just knew meant Allison didn't believe her, but she does accept Lydia's hand and just as Lydia goes to pull Allison from the ground, Allison yanks, hard and Lydia can't help but yelp, but a warm arm wraps around her waist and Allison pulls Lydia against her for a kiss and they lie there, wrapped up In each other, kissing as each song bleeds into the next but then she recognises the open chords when the next song begins to play and Lydia breaks away from Allison, sitting up so she's practically straddling the girl  
Allison looks at her questioningly, head tilting in concern. Frowning when Lydia moves off of her completely, Lydia holds her hand out  
“May I have this dance?”  
And it takes a moment for the words to register on her face, but Allison grins eventually and grabs Lydia's hand and for a moment, Lydia is convinced Allison is going to pull her over again, but she doesn't, she allows Lydia to pull her to her feet as Etta James' voice played through the speakers  
She pulls Allison's hands until Allison wraps her arms around Lydia's shoulders and she wraps her own around Allison's waist and rests her head against Allison's chest as they slow dance in the middle of Allison's room to 'At Last' and Lydia can't help but marvel at how strong Allison’s heartbeat is, how it seems to race and Lydia suspects that _she_ is the reason that it beats like that and Lydia feels her own heart skip a beat at that thought, Allison drops her head so that her lips are pressed into the crown of Lydia's head  
  
“We should probably order pizza” Lydia whispered as the song finished  
  
Allison laughed and broke away after kissing Lydia sweetly on the lips, she moved over to her computer and turned the music down some more and held up a finger, signalling for Lydia to hold on. She jumps onto her bed and leans over it, when she resurfaces, she's holding a book and she waves Lydia over and pats the bed, Lydia kicks off her shoes- something Allison frowns at but whatever, and climbs onto the bed, sitting cross legged in front of Allison, Allison seems serious all of a sudden, nervous even and that is unsettling enough for Lydia to make her fidget with the edge of her skirt while Allison stares at her  
Allison holds out the book and Lydia holds her eye contact as she takes it from her, it's leather, and it just _feels_ expensive. Allison nods her head towards it, silently urging Lydia to open it  
The contents of the first page alone makes her gasp, it's her, more specifically, a drawing of herself, smiling wide and open and Lydia recognises the outfit from when they went to the lacrosse game together, every line is perfect and precise and Lydia can't help but press her fingertips to the page, just to make sure that it's real. She looks back up to Allison who's smiling now, she nods at the book again and Lydia turns the page

She spends the next ten minutes doing this, every page is like a dedication to _Lydia_  
sketches of her in class, pen pressed against her lips, paintings of her eyes and Lydia just knows that Allison probably spent an entire day painting those eyes, drawings of her doing a twirl in that new skirt she really likes, drawings of Lydia's lips. Portraits of Lydia smiling and sketches of her sleeping  
Every single piece is a work of art, every piece looks as though It deserves to belong in a gallery, available for all to see  
But no, Lydia doesn't want that, she wants to draw a curtain around herself and Allison and just _be_  
Lydia lifts her head to speak and Allison cuts her off be pressing a finger to her lips, Allison glances back down at the book and Lydia realises that there's one page left  
Allison moves her finger away as Lydia turns the page and she realises that every drawing and painting she had just seen was just the beginning, the prologue  
The thought of how many hours Allison put into the painting staring back at her was overwhelming in itself  
It's as though she is the Mona Lisa  
Lydia stares at the painting, the way the hair seems to glow, and Lydia is sure she can see where the sun reflects off of each strand, the light in her eyes and joy in her smile  
Lydia looks up at Allison and realises that this, this is Allison's way of showing Lydia how she sees her, a chance to see the world through Allison's eyes  
She doesn't know who initiates it, doesn't care  
But what she does know, is that Allison is pinning her to the bed and kissing her like there's no tomorrow, biting at Lydia's lips and then soothing it with her tongue and Lydia's hands are in Allison's hair, pulling her closer to her  
“Allison” Lydia whispers, tilting her neck as Allison bites at the skin there “Allison!” She says again, pushing gently at Allison's shoulder and Allison stops immediately, moving so she's sat on top of Lydia, staring down at Lydia, concern evident on her features “Am I still ordering pizza?” And okay, she hadn't meant to say that, but it was still a reasonable question. Allison's brow furrowed for a minute before she laughed, swooping in for another kiss, something Lydia allows for a minute before pushing at her shoulders again and when Allison moves away, she only moves an inch, so close, Lydia has no choice but to stare at those eyes, they're darker than usual and Lydia is having flashbacks to the night they first kissed, only this time, this time, she knows what Allison Is saying, her intent Is clear and Lydia has wanted this for so long  
She threads her fingers into Allison's hair  
“Do you still want to go to the game?” She asks quietly, like the implications of the question isn't going to change both of their lives forever  
Allison shook her head  
“Do you want to stay here?”  
Allison kissed her  
Lydia's hands moved to the bottom of Allison's shirt and pulls at it gently “Can this come off?”  
Allison doesn't even hesitate  
  
Allison isn't sure how, but at some point, Lydia managed to roll Allison over and pin her to the sheets, their clothes in a heap around the bed and Lydia is biting and sucking purple marks into Allison's breasts, two fingers sliding in and out in a way that is driving Allison _insane_ arching her hips up into Lydia and everything feels amazing and Lydia speeds up, thumb circling her clit lazily, her free hand entwining itself with her own as Lydia kisses up to Allison's throat and then Allison _moans_ and it's so sudden Lydia stops for a moment, leaning over Allison's face, her expression slightly concerned  
“Did you just moan?” Lydia whispered, she looks shocked by the entire thing and Allison feels herself blush and nod, she arches her hips again, a silent plea because she was so _so_ close and Lydia had just stopped and Lydia just grins, leans in for a kiss and stars moving her fingers again and it was a good thing her dad was out, because Allison doesn’t think she could have stopped moaning if she had tried, she feels Lydia grinning against her lips, keeping the sound between them when she finally breaks, Allison holds Lydia's head in place as her kisses get harder until her breath gets caught in her throat and Allison is sure, she's so sure that she could feel Lydia's name on her tongue  
  
Lydia actually looks a little emotional when she moves to lie beside her, clearly waiting for Allison to catch her breath and come back down from what she can only describe as the biggest high of her life  
But Allison doesn't let herself think about that  
They can analyse the fact that she moaned later, but right now? She wanted Lydia, because Lydia is naked in her bed and she hasn't really had a chance to enjoy that yet  
She takes her time, rolling on top of Lydia and grinning, kissing her for several minutes before trailing kisses lower and lower, kissing every inch of skin, committing every moment to memory as she moves lower, kissing and biting red marks into Lydia's thigh until the redheads leg hooks around her back, holding her in place as the girl moans  
But Allison takes her time, licking and sucking until Lydia is writhing on the bed, hands fisted in sheets, words a jumbled mess of moans  


Lydia, Allison thinks, Is most beautiful like this, half asleep and completely naked, curled up against her, lazy presses of lips against her chest and once again, Allison is glad her dad decided to go out because she doesn't want this feeling to end  
“You moaned” Lydia whispered into her throat and Allison grins, because yes. Yes she did “I made you moan” Lydia pulls away from Allison's neck and smiles up at her “You're amazing”  
Allison grins back and kisses Lydia again, hopes that the kiss is enough for Lydia to understand the feelings Allison has, that she thinks Lydia is the most beautiful person she has ever met, that nobody has ever made her feel this way before that she without a doubt loves Lydia Martin with all her heart  
She hopes the kiss is enough to translate all of the feelings for her  
The smile Lydia returns is brighter than the sun itself

  
“Allison” Isaac reached over and stole a handful of skittles from her “Why did you send me a text on Friday that said 'yes'? Yes to what?” Allison grinned and turned away from him  
“Is it to do with why you didn't come to the game?” Stiles asked  
Erica had been staring intently at Allison since lunch started and she laughed suddenly, forcing all eyes on her “Allison came all right” She smirked, Allison's jaw dropped  
“Hey” Lydia sang, leaning over Allison's shoulder to press a kiss to her lips “What're we talking about?”  
“How you and Argent totally had sex on Friday” Erica replied  
Allison face palmed, did she mention her friends were ass holes?  
“It's about time though” the blonde added  
“OH” Isaac slammed a hand down on the table “I get it now”  
Lydia settled beside Allison and rested a head on her shoulder “Do I want to know?”  
Allison smirked and shook her head

  
“So Lydia made you moan” Laura set the pad down, thank god “I'm not sure what to say here”  
Allison scratched the side of her head and flashed an awkward smirk  
“It's good that you're making sounds?” Laura suggested and okay, this was easily the most awkward conversation she had ever had  
 _“Can I ask you something?”  
_ “I'm not really one to ask for the sex talk Allison” Laura joked  
Allison slapped on her bitch face and glared at Laura  
“Sorry, go on”  
 _“It's the winter formal soon and I want to ask Lydia to go with me”  
_ “But you're dating? So surely you don't need to ask?”  
 _“I want to_ _ask_ _her”  
_ “Oh” Laura stared at the words for a moment, eyes widening in realisation “OH!”

  
Stiles frowned at Allison  
“You want to video me saying this? Why?”  
Allison stared at him, she loved her friends, really, she did. But they could be so oblivious sometimes  
“Wait...” Stiles glanced down at the sheet of paper in his hands “Are you trying to-”  
Allison cut him off with a nod  
“Oh my god!” Stiles wrapped her up in a hug “Are you being serious?”  
Allison didn't even respond, she just gestured to the paper again  
“Oh, right” Stiles cleared his throat and Allison switched her phone to video

  
“Hey Allison” Scott greeted “How's practice going?”  
Allison frowned at him  
“Stiles told me”  
Of course he did  
“Don't be angry!” Scott held a hand up “Stiles can't really keep a secret”  
Allison rolled her eyes and grabbed her phone  
 _“It's okay, I need everybody to help anyway”  
_ “Everybody?”  
 _“Well, Stiles, he has a car”  
_

  
“You're being twitchy” Lydia murmured as Allison's hands moved higher up under her shirt “What's wrong?”  
Allison grinned into her neck before biting at the pulse point, feeling Lydia melt in her arms  
“So nothings wrong?”  
Allison shook her head and bit on Lydia's ear  
Everything was perfect

  
“Hey Allison” Danny looked up from his phone “What brings you here?”  
Allison frowned at Danny and gestured to the flowers surrounding them, like seriously, why else would she come to a flower shop in the middle of the week?  
“Flowers for Lydia?” he smirked  
Allison winked and pulled out a small card and handed it over  
“I'll go get my mom” Danny grinned

  
Allison stood in front of her mirror  
She had been practising this for the last two weeks  
She could do this  
“Allison! Scott's here!”  
Allison grabbed her bag and ran down the stairs, grinning as Scott's face came into view  
“You ready?” He asked  
Allison grinned and kissed her dad on the cheek before following Scott down the path  
“Seriously” Scott whispered as they waited for Stiles “Are you ready?”  
Allison nodded, less confident as earlier  
“You can totally do this” Isaac patted her on the back  
Stiles' Jeep came into view and parked up close by  
“I feel like an idiot carrying these” He handed the flowers to Allison “You ready Alli?”  
Allison shrugged, nerves beginning to settle in  
Stiles gripped her shoulders and forced her to look at him  
“Allison, you've been practising non-stop for two weeks. You got this”  
“YEAH!” Isaac fist pumped  
“You can do this” Scott smiled encouragingly  
Allison nodded, yeah, she can do this.  
She walked towards the school, destination in mind, ignoring the questioning looks from the other students

  
“Lydia” Danny mutters  
“Hm?” Lydia finishes applying her lipstick and turns to the boy, Danny merely nods and Lydia follows his gaze to where Allison is walking towards her, something hidden behind her  
“Hey” Lydia greets warmly “What's up?”  
Allison stops a few paces short of Lydia and pulls the bouquet of flowers from behind her and Lydia gasps because it's a real life version of the one that has featured in so many drawings since their relationship was in it's earlier days and it's absolutely gorgeous (though she thinks Allison's drawings are better) she takes the bouquet and inhales the rich scent of the flowers  
“Allison, they're beautiful”  
Allison points to the ribbon holding them together, more specifically, the card poking out of them. With a slight frown, Lydia pulls out the card

 

**CARNATION** Red- Admiration

**GARDENIA** \- You're Lovely: Secret Love

**FORGET-ME-NOT** \- True Love; Memories

**GLOXINIA** \- Love at First Sight

  


Lydia laughs “You finally told me what they mean!” She moves to step closer to Allison, but the brunette holds a hand up, making her freeze  
“Allison? What's wrong?”  
Allison glances over her shoulder at where Scott, Stiles, Isaac, Boyd and Erica are standing and Lydia watches as they all nod, all wearing grins. Allison looks back at Lydia and closes her eyes, Lydia watches her breathe for a few moments and when Allison opens them again, they're bright and happy and any nervousness Lydia had seen when her girlfriend had approached her was now gone  
She watched Allison open her mouth and Lydia feels her heart get caught in her throat  
“Lydia-” Allison stops, she takes another breath and when she speaks again, her voice is clearer “Lydia, I’m- I’m in love with you” She swallows thickly “Will you go to the winter formal with me?”  
And it takes Lydia a while to process what just happened, Allison just _spoke_ to her, and it's the first time she's heard her voice and holy shit it sounds like bells and sweet as honey and she wants to hear her speak again and again and Lydia has a rule about crying in public places, she just doesn't do it  
But today, she thinks, today she'll make an exception because Allison just spoke and judging by the looks on her friends faces, it was the first time they had heard her speak as well and Lydia doesn't know when she started moving, but she knows when she crashes into Allison's arms, holding tight and never wanting to let go  
“I'm in love with you too”  
“I love you” Allison says again “I love you”  
Lydia laughs and Lydia cries and she knows she can hear Scott crying but she doesn't care because Allison _spoke  
_ And Allison is crying and kissing her and she whispers 'I love you' between kisses and Lydia had imagined what it would be like to hear Allison say her name, to hear her say 'I love you' but never, _never_ in her wildest dreams did she imagine that it would feel like this  
  
They spend the rest of the day lost in each other, and Allison doesn't feel comfortable saying anything else yet, but that doesn't matter because she worked for two weeks to tell her girlfriend she loved her and to see Lydia's face when she did say it was amazing, glorious and how can she be expected to focus when Lydia drags her into an empty classroom so they can kiss and Allison can keep saying I love you and now that she's said it she doesn't think she'll ever be able to stop  
Couldn't if she tried  
Never wants to stop  
She loves Lydia Martin, with all of her heart  
And with her by her side, she could do anything

 

“Are you sure you're ready for this?” Lydia asked quietly, Allison turned to her and flashed her a dimpled smile and squeezed her hand tighter “I'm so proud of you already, you know that right?”  
Allison nodded and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Lydia smiled back at her and looked up to the house. Allison took a deep breath and together they walked up the path, Allison opened the door and stepped to the side to allow Lydia to pass through first, following her through quickly. Allison made sure to close the door with enough force that the sound of the slam carried through the house. Allison took another deep breath and closed her eyes, Lydia squeezed her hand and pressed herself against Allison's side, burying her head in the crook of Allison's neck and kissing the skin there  
“I'm so proud of you”  
Allison raised an eyebrow at Lydia when she pulled away, Lydia laughed and waved a hand  
“I know, I already said it.” She smiles fondly at Allison “But I mean it, and I don't want you to forget it”  
Allison grinned and yeah, her cheeks were aching but this was a landmark moment dammit  
“Allison?” Chris called from further inside the house, “Is that you?”  
Allison smiled and gently led Lydia into the living room just as Chris emerged from the kitchen.  
“Hello Lydia” He greeted, “How was school?”  
“It was good, amazing” Lydia answered, Allison glanced over at the fireplace. Let her gaze linger on the photo of her mother and father at their wedding day, on her mothers smile and took a deep breath, she knew that it was okay. She would be okay. Lydia squeezed her hand, pulling her attention back to her dad and the girl beside her. Allison turned to Lydia and grinned at her because she's so happy, so fucking happy to have found Beacon Hills, to have a therapist who actually cares like Laura does, to have a Dad who would drop everything to move his daughter across the country multiple times and was infinitely patient with her. To heave friends who supported and loved her no matter what, to have a girlfriend like Lydia  
She's so thankful.  
Allison turns to Chris, who's watching her with a confused, if not apprehensive way and she takes a deep breath, closes her eyes for just a moment longer than a beat before meeting his eyes  
“Dad. This is Lydia. My girlfriend, I’m in love with her”

She was going to be okay.

 


End file.
